Enes Ünal (born 10 May 1997) is a Turkish 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 ...

who plays as a forward for Spanish club

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a fla ...

and the Turkey national team. Ünal scored on his

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 ...

debut on 25 August 2013 for

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other dep ...

, making him the youngest player to net in Turkey's top division. An international at several youth levels, he earned his first senior cap on 31 March 2015 in a friendly against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

Club career

Bursaspor

Ünal was born in Osmangazi in

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in t ...

, and was promoted from the Bursaspor youth team. He made his professional debut against

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the second la ...

in the first leg of third qualifying round of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League on 1 August 2013, replacing

Sebastián Pinto Sebastián Pinto (born 5 February 1986) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. His last team was Chilean Primera B club Deportes Temuco. Career Begins of his career Pinto began his career in the youth categories ...

for the last five minutes of a 2–2 draw at

Karađorđe Đorđe Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Петровић, ), better known by the sobriquet Karađorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Карађорђе, lit=Black George, ; – ), was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's indepen ...

. On 25 August 2013, Ünal came off the bench for

Ferhat Kiraz Ferhat Kiraz (born 2 January 1989) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a left winger. Kiraz is also a youth international, capped at the U-17, U-18, U-19, and U-21 levels. Early life and club career Kiraz was born 2 January 1989 ...

in the 71st minute to make his debut against

, and scored his first league goal three minutes later with the assist by Pablo Batalla. This goal made him the youngest player to score in the

. On 21 October, he scored his second league goal against

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 fin ...

with the assist by

Şener Özbayraklı Şener Özbayraklı (born 23 January 1990) is a Turkish footballer who plays as a right back. Club career He made his Süper Lig debut on 19 January 2013. After two successful seasons at Bursaspor it was announced that Bursaspor had accepted a � ...

. On 19 December 2013, he came off the bench for

Musa Çağıran Musa Çağıran (born 17 November 1992) is a Turkish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Hatayspor. He has also made an appearance for Turkey's national football B team. Career He signed for Galatasaray on 3 February 2010, signing a thre ...

in the 80th minute in the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup (Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

game against İnegölspor, and scored Bursaspor's second goal via a free kick two minutes later, netting the third in the 86th minute. On 12 February 2014, he scored the third goal for Bursaspor against

Akhisar Belediyespor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

in the cup group stages. They finished first in the group stage with 13 points and advanced to the semi-finals to face Galatasaray.

Manchester City

On 7 July 2015, English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Manchester City announced Ünal's signing for a reported fee of £2 million, their first purchase of the summer. He made his debut against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

on a tour of Australia, in a 2–0 win. On 31 July 2015, Manchester City announced that Ünal would be going out on loan to

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 ...

side

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

for two seasons. On 29 January 2016, his agreement was cancelled, and he returned to Manchester City. On 1 February 2016, Ünal was loaned to Dutch club NAC Breda until end of the season; eighteen days later he scored on his debut against

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

. He scored his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

on 11 April 2016 in a game against SC Telstar. On 23 July 2016, Ünal was loaned to Dutch club FC Twente for the 2016–17 season. On 21 August, he made his first start, scoring his second career hat-trick. He scored two more goals in his next game for the club, a 4–1 win over

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

Villarreal

On 30 May 2017, Ünal joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

side Villarreal for £12 million with a buy back option for Manchester City. He made his debut in the season opener, a 1–0 loss to Levante on 21 August. His first goal came on 10 September in a 3–1 win over

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vi ...

. On 30 October 2017, Ünal joined Levante on an emergency loan deal until June 2018, with the option of a call back in January. He scored on his debut against

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

, on 5 November 2017, though the match ended in a 2–1 loss. On 26 December 2017, Villarreal exercised the call back option and Ünal rejoined the club three days later. The following 19 August, he joined newly-promoted side

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

on a one-year loan deal. In 2019 July, his loan contract was extended until the end of 2019–20 season.

Getafe

On 12 August 2020,

announced the signing of Ünal from Villarreal on a five-year contract.

International career

After scoring 25 goals in 24 games for the Turkey U16 side, he was quickly promoted to the U17s, and after scoring his first professional goal in 2013 was invited to join the Turkey U21 side, despite being just 16 years old. He scored his first U21 goal in 4–0 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 ...

. Ünal earned his first international cap at senior level on 31 March 2015, replacing

Olcay Şahan Olcay Şahan (, born 26 May 1987) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a winger or as an attacking midfielder for Afjet Afyonspor. Born in Germany, he represented the Turkey national team internationally. Club career Germany In ...

in the 57th minute of at a 2–1 friendly victory against

at the

Stade Josy Barthel The Stade Josy Barthel is the former national stadium of Luxembourg, and the former home of the Luxembourg national football team. The stadium, which also hosted rugby union and athletics events, is located on route d'Arlon, in the Luxembourg Ci ...

. His second cap wouldn't come for over a year, appearing as a substitute in a friendly against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

on 31 August 2016. On 30 September 2016, Ünal was called up for

2018 World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

matches against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

. He made his first start and competitive debut for Turkey against Ukraine, on 6 October, in a 2–2 draw. On 17 November 2019, Ünal scored his first two goals for Turkey in a 2–0 win against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none ( Latin)"United virtue is str ...

, during the

UEFA Euro 2020 qualification The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Euro ...

Personal life

Ünal's father,

Mesut Ünal Mesut Ünal (born 3 April 1973) is a Turkish former footballer who played as a centre-back, best known for his Süper Lig stints with Bursaspor and Sakaryaspor. Club career A youth product of Bursaspor, Ünal made his professional debut with Bu ...

, was also a professional footballer who also played for

and was a youth international for Turkey. Ünal's family became Manchester City fans after Sergio Aguero's 94th minute Premier League title winner in 2012. He had been dating Lisa Smellers, a Belgian footballer who plays for

KRC Genk Ladies KRC Genk Ladies is a Belgian women's football club based in Genk. It is the women's section of KRC Genk The club was formed as a merger of clubs from Lanaken and Zonhoven in 2013, and has been known as Ladies Genk since 2015 when they relocate ...

. The couple got married in December 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ünal goal.''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Unal, Enes 1997 births Living people People from Osmangazi Turkish footballers Association football forwards Turkey international footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkey youth international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players Süper Lig players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players La Liga players Bursaspor footballers Manchester City F.C. players K.R.C. Genk players NAC Breda players Villarreal CF players Levante UD footballers Real Valladolid players Getafe CF footballers Turkish expatriate footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain