Alim Öztürk (born 17 November 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Samsunspor. Born in the Netherlands, he is a youth international for Turkey. Öztürk has previously played for Dutch club SC Cambuur, Trabzonspor,

1461 Trabzon 1461 Trabzon is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1998 as Değirmenderespor, the club changed its name to Trabzon Karadenizspor in 2008. The club colours are maroon, blue and white. History The club w ...

, Scottish club Heart of Midlothian, Boluspor and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Career

Playing in Netherlands

Born in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

, Netherlands, to his Turkish parents, Öztürk grew up with three siblings and started playing football when he was nine years old and joining AFC '34 youth team. His parents kept distance from Öztürk playing football. He then joined

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

. In 2011, Öztürk joined Eerste Divisie side SC Cambuur, where he quickly went through to the first team and made his Eerste Divisie debut for Cambuur on 22 January 2012.

Playing in Turkey

He moved to Turkish club Trabzonspor in 2013 for €125,000 on a three year contract, depending on the ongoing payment, but did not break into their first team. After struggling to break into the first team, Öztürk was sent to join

on loan for the 2013–14 season. After a half season with the club, Öztürk left Trabzonspor by mutual consent. Öztürk later described playing in Turkey as difficult, citing more long balls, more fights and unsatisfied playing in the second division.

Heart of Midlothian

Öztürk moved to then Scottish Championship side Hearts in June 2014 on a three year contract.Hearts recruit Turkish defender Alim Ozturk
BBC Sport Öztürk made his Hearts debut, playing in the centre-back along with Danny Wilson, in a 2–1 win over

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

in the opening game of the season. On 26 October 2014, Öztürk scored his first goal for the club, a 40-yard screamer against Edinburgh rivals Hibernian. He also scored with long-range efforts against Raith Rovers, Cowdenbeath, and he scored a free-kick against Queen of the South. Alim Öztürk was the main free-kick taker at Hearts. With 33 appearances and scoring four times in his first season at Hearts, Öztürk was among six players to be named 2014–15 Championship's Team of the Year. Öztürk was also won Goal of the Season and Memorable Moment at the club's award ceremony. Following the club's promotion to the Scottish Premiership and Wilson's departure, it was announced that Öztürk was appointed as the new captain at Hearts. He had previously spoke out of becoming the club's captain ahead of the 2015–16 season. Öztürk's first game as Hearts' captain came in the opening game of the season, in a 4–3 win over

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

. On 21 September 2016, the captaincy was transferred to

Perry Kitchen Perry Allen Kitchen (born February 29, 1992) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder. He was part of the Akron Zips side that won the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, and was a fir ...

Boluspor

Öztürk returned to Turkish football in January 2017, signing an 18-month contract with

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...

club Boluspor.

Sunderland

On 21 June 2018,

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

announced the signing of Öztürk on a free transfer with a two-year contract. Ozturk struggled to cement his place in the team and it was announced on 17 June 2020 that he would be leaving Sunderland, bringing to an end his two years at the club.

Ümraniyespor

On 26 August 2020, Öztürk joined

club Ümraniyespor.

Personal life

Öztürk speaks Dutch, Turkish and English. Öztürk was so popular with Hearts supporters that they named a beer after him.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozturk, Alim 1992 births Sportspeople from Alkmaar Footballers from North Holland Dutch people of Turkish descent Living people Dutch footballers Turkish footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Association football central defenders AFC '34 players SC Cambuur players Trabzonspor footballers 1461 Trabzon footballers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Boluspor footballers Sunderland A.F.C. players Ümraniyespor footballers Samsunspor footballers Eerste Divisie players TFF First League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England