Alpaslan Öztürk (born 16 July 1993) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

-born

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

right-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 ...

and

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Eyüpspor Eyüpspor is a Turkish professional football club that is located in the Eyüp district of Istanbul. The team colours are lavender and yellow. Their home ground is Eyüp Stadium, which has a capacity of 2,500. History Eyüpspor played in the Ista ...

and the Turkey national team. Öztürk began his club career with Beerschot before joining English club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, where he spent two years without appearing for the first team. He then returned to Beerschot, making his first-team debut in January 2012. After the club's 2013

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from the Pro League and subsequent bankruptcy left all their players out of contract, Öztürk signed for Standard Liège. He was loaned to Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club Kasımpaşa for one-and-a-half seasons before spending 2015–16 on loan at another Turkish club,

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division ...

. Following a short spell at

Elazığspor Elazığspor is a Turkish professional football club located in Elazığ and currently competes in the TFF Third League. They previously played their home games at Elazığ Atatürk Stadium in Elazığ, which had a maximum capacity of 13,923. The ...

, he signed for Göztepe in 2018. He has represented Turkey, the country of his parents, at under-18, under-20, under-21, and

A2 level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by Education in the United Kingdom, the educational bodies in the United ...

, and Belgium, the country of his birth, at under-18, under-19, and under-21 level.

Club career

Early life and career

Öztürk was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium, and is of Turkish descent. He was part of the youth system at Berchem Sport before joining

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

at the age of 12, and then moved to England to join Birmingham City's Youth Academy in 2009. He played regularly in the under-18 and

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

s, and in March 2011, was given a first-team

squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

prior to the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

sixth-round tie against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. In the absence through injury of

Stephen Carr Stephen Carr (born 29 August 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played for and captained Birmingham City from 2009 to 2013. He previously played for Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur and, for a shorter spell, Newcastle U ...

and Roger Johnson, and with

Liam Ridgewell Liam Matthew Ridgewell (born 21 July 1984) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He was primarily a centre back but could also play at left back. He is currently a coach for the Portland Timbers. Ridgewell, wh ...

not fit enough to start, Öztürk was named among the substitutes for that game, but remained unused. He was part of the Birmingham squad for their 2011 pre-season visit to Ireland, and played the second half of the friendly against

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

. In August 2011, he left the club. It was reported that no agreement could be reached between Birmingham and Beerschot on a mutually acceptable way to structure a compensation fee.

Beerschot

Öztürk returned to Beerschot for the 2011–12 season. Playing as a

rather than the

right 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 ...

position he usually occupied at Birmingham, he was an unused substitute for the first team's visit to

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

in January 2012, made his debut as Beerschot beat K.V. Kortrijk in the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

, and played the full 90 minutes on his first

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

appearance as Beerschot beat

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

4–0 on 21 January. In February, his contract was extended to June 2016. Beerschot were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from the Pro League at the end of the 2012–13 season, and the club was subsequently declared bankrupt, which left the players out of contract.

Standard Liège

As a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, Öztürk signed a five-year contract with

on 13 June 2013. He made his Standard debut in the starting eleven against

Lierse Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six Be ...

on 4 August, producing a calm, assured performance in his preferred position of defensive midfield. Öztürk kept his place, and contributed to Standard's qualification for the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

group stages.

Kasımpaşa

Öztürk spent the second half of the 2013–14 season on loan to Turkish

club Kasımpaşa. He started one match, a goalless draw away to

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...

, and made nine substitute appearances. In July, he rejoined Kasımpaşa, again on loan, for the 2014–15 season; the agreement included an option to make the transfer permanent. He appeared in 23 Süper Lig matches that season, but the move was not made permanent.

Eskişehirspor

He joined another Süper Lig club,

, on loan for the 2015–16 season; again, the deal included an option to purchase. After making 15 league appearances, he was dropped from the squad in early March 2016 and never played again. In an interview with a Turkish website, Öztürk said he was training on his own and, with the club in financial difficulties, the players were not receiving their wages regularly. He made it clear that he wanted to return to Standard, and even if Eskişehirspor took up their option, he had no interest in staying.

Return to Standard

Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Öztürk took part in pre-season training with Standard.

Galatasaray

He signed a three-year contract with Galatasaray in the 2021–22 season.

Eyüpspor (loan)

He signed a one-year lease agreement with

on 30 June 2022.

International career

Öztürk made his international debut for the Turkey under-18 team in November 2010, in the starting eleven for a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against their German counterparts, and came off the substitutes' bench against the same opponents two days later. In January 2011, he was selected for his native Belgium's under-18 team, and was in the starting eleven for two friendlies against France U18. He played twice more a few weeks later in friendlies against Estonia U18, and twice more in the 2011 Slovakia Cup. In August 2011, Öztürk moved up to the Belgium under-19 team, becoming a regular selection both in friendly matches and in qualification for the 2012 UEFA under-19 championships. He scored his first international goal in a 4–1 friendly defeat of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

on 7 September. In February 2013, Öztürk was called up to the Turkish under-21 squad for the upcoming match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, but played no part. He did appear for Turkey's under-20 side in two friendly matches against their Portuguese counterparts in March 2013 – in the first of the two, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 win. Selected for Turkey's squad for the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

, he started all three of Turkey's group matches and their second-round defeat to eventual winners

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Öztürk made his under-21 debut for Turkey in their opening qualification match for the 2015 European championships, a 4–0 home win against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. He made his debut for Turkey national football team on 1 September 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Montenegro.

Personal

Öztürk was born and raised in Belgium by Turkish immigrants.

References

Infobox statistics * General

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozturk, Alpaslan 1993 births Living people Footballers from Antwerp Turkish footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkey youth international footballers Turkey international footballers Belgian people of Turkish descent Belgian footballers Belgium under-21 international footballers Belgium youth international footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Birmingham City F.C. players Beerschot A.C. players Standard Liège players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers Eskişehirspor footballers Belgian Pro League players Göztepe S.K. footballers Süper Lig players TFF First League players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Eyüpspor footballers