Nadir Çiftçi (born 12 February 1992) 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 le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

TFF Second League TFF 2. Lig (Turkish Football Federation Second League), is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continuation of the then second lev ...

club Karaman FK. In a nomadic career he has played for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

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 ...

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

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 ...

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club, based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, Gençlerbirliği,

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Rize. The club play in the TFF First League. The club was founded on May 19, 1953, with green-yellow as club colours, but later changed to blue-green. Since 1990, the team ...

Samsunspor Samsunspor is a Turkish professional Association football, football club located in the city of Samsun. The club was formed through a merger of five clubs: 19 Mayıs, Akınspor, Fener Gençlik, Samsunspor, and Samsunspor Galatasaray.

, Ankaragücü and

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 ...

. Çiftçi represented the Netherlands under-17 team before switching national allegiance to the country of his birth, Turkey, when he played for their under-19 team.

Club career

Portsmouth

Çiftçi moved from Dutch side

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 f ...

at the start of the

2007–08 Premier League The 2007–08 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) season was the 16th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 11 August 2007, and the season ended on 11 May 2008. Manchest ...

season when he was just 15 years of age for a fee of around £80,000. He signed professional terms in June 2010. After an impressive pre-season tour of the United States, he made his first-team debut on 7 August 2010 as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. On his first competitive start for Portsmouth, Çiftçi scored his first goal for the club against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

on 9 August 2010 in the first round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. This goal proved vital for Portsmouth as they won the match 2–1. He scored the opener in Portsmouth's first home game against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in the 2010–11 Championship season, his second goal in three competitive games. Following the arrival of

Liam Lawrence Liam Lawrence (born 14 December 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a winger or central midfielder. Lawrence started his career at his local club Mansfield Town, after impressing at the Field Mill he signed for Sunderland ...

, Çiftçi's playing time became more limited, but manager

Steve Cotterill Stephen John Cotterill (born 20 July 1964) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of side Shrewsbury Town. Cotterill had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albion, Wimbledon, ...

was reluctant to send him out on loan due to the club's lack of squad depth. He finished the season making 22 appearances (17 as substitute) and scoring two goals in all competitions.

Kayserispor and NAC Breda

On 14 May 2011, Çiftçi turned down the offer of a new contract with

and signed with Turkish club

. Because of his age, Portsmouth received £100,000 for the transfer. His contract was mutually terminated in June 2012 before trialling at

and former club

. Following a trial, Çiftçi joined

in August 2012 on a three-year contract. After one season, Çiftçi would leave the club.

Dundee United

On 2 July 2013, Çiftçi went on trial to

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

. On 25 July, he joined United on a two-year contract. Two days later, he scored for Dundee United with a stunning strike, in a 1–0 win against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in a pre-season friendly. Çiftçi said it was his "best goal ever" and his new manager

Jackie McNamara Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional football agent, and former player, manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playing for Scotland, and filled a variety of defensive roles in his career. McNamara beg ...

commented that the goal showed "why we've signed him" adding "we've all got high hopes for him". Çiftçi scored his first competitive goals for Dundee United on 28 August 2013 in their 3–2 win in the

second round tie against

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

; he came on as a second-half substitute and quickly equalised before going on to score the winning goal in the dying minutes of the game. On 15 September 2013, Çiftçi scored his first league goal for Dundee United against Ross County. He followed this up seven days later with another goal, against

. On 5 October 2013, Çiftçi scored a twenty-yard volley low and hard without the ball hitting the ground, which proved to be the winner against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. On 29 October 2013, Çiftçi was red-carded as Dundee United lost 2–1 against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

in the League Cup. On 1 November 2013, with Dundee United having appealed against the ordering off, Çiftçi was then accused of grabbing an assistant referee by the throat and grabbing the face of an Inverness player during the same match. On 7 November 2013, the SFA judiciary panel ruled that the charge of grabbing the opponent was unproven and also reduced his red card to a yellow card. On 3 December 2013, Çiftçi was given a two-match suspension by the SFA, with one of those matches suspended until the end of the season. This was after the initial charge of "seizing hold" of the assistant referee "by the throat" was amended to "excessive misconduct at a match by placing an open hand into the lower area of the assistant referee's throat". He finished the season with eleven goals in the league, helping Dundee United to a fourth-place finish. Çiftçi's four goals in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers on 10 April 2014, helped United reach the final. However, Dundee United were beaten 2–0 by

in the final on 17 May 2014, although Çiftçi came close to scoring early in the second half when he hit the post from a free kick. He scored the first goal of his second season with Dundee United in a 2–1 home league win over Ross County on 23 August 2014, opening the scoring in the first half with a header from a Paul Paton free kick. His next goal came three weeks later in a 2–2 draw with

Hamilton Accies Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...

, but was sent off the same game just before half time after receiving two bookings. Çiftçi continued to score regularly for United, and played a pivotal role in his side's 2–1 win league win over

in December 2014. He was booked in the opening minute for a foul on

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

, then opened the scoring four minutes later, taking advantage of

Efe Ambrose Efetobore Eric “Efe” Ambrose Emuobo (born 18 October 1988) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Greenock Morton. Ambrose has previously played for Kaduna United, Bayelsa United, Israeli club Ashdod, Scottish c ...

's fresh-air swipe at a deflected Stuart Armstrong pass, and using his strength and close control to hold off the Celtic defender and fire a shot past

Craig Gordon Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian, where he is club captain, and the Scottish national team. Gordon started his c ...

. He then provided the assist for United's second goal, crossing from the right wing to Armstrong who headed past Gordon in goal. Çiftçi finished the season with 16 goals in all competitions, and scored twice in the last game of the season, a 3–0 win over city rivals

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. This meant that he was the club's top scorer in both his seasons at Tannadice. During his time with Dundee United, Çiftçi garnered a reputation for indiscipline; aside from his red cards against Inverness and Hamilton Accies, he was also accused of kicking Celtic's Scott Brown on the head during a bad tempered Scottish Cup tie in March 2015 and then at the end of the season he was cited for "excessive misconduct" after being accused of biting Dundee's Jim McAlister on the leg in May 2015. A disciplinary panel subsequently found him guilty of the offence, giving him an eight-match ban with two suspended. At the end of the 2014–15 season, he was linked with both

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and

. On 7 July 2015 Dundee United confirmed that they had accepted £1.5 million bid from Celtic and had allowed the player to speak to the Glasgow club regarding a transfer.

Celtic

confirmed the signing of Çiftçi on 9 July 2015, with the player signing a four-year contract. He chose to wear the number 7, which has previously been worn by club legends

Jimmy Johnstone James Connolly Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years, and was part of the 'Lisbon ...

and

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football coach and former player, formerly an assistant manager of Barcelona. Playing as a striker, Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. In 1992, he moved to Hels ...

. He made his debut the day after signing, coming on as a substitute in a pre-season friendly against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

and providing the assist for

Gary Mackay-Steven Gary Sean Mackay-Steven (born 31 August 1990) is a Scottish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian. He will become a free ...

's goal in a 1–0 win. Çiftçi started each of Celtic's first four Champions League qualifier games, but failed to score so was dropped to the bench for the first leg of the play-off round against

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

. He came off the bench at the closing stages, and received a booking near the end of the game. Malmö defender

Rasmus Bengtsson Rasmus Mattias Bengtsson (born 26 June 1986) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Starting off his professional career with Trelleborgs FF in 2006, he went on to represent Hertha BSC in the German Bundesliga ...

criticised Çiftçi after the game, stating that he "was not particularly nice" and that "the first thing he wanted to do when he came on was to talk. He had more focus on that than his performance." Çiftçi missed Celtic's first six league matches of the season due to suspension, but eventually scored his first goal for the club during a 6–0 win over Dundee on 20 September 2015, having also provided an assist for Scott Brown's goal in the game. Çiftçi was chosen by manager

Ronny Deila Ronny Deila (born 21 September 1975) is a Norwegian football manager and former player, who is the manager of Standard Liège. He spent most of his playing career at Odd before becoming head coach at Strømsgodset, winning the Norwegian Cup in ...

to start in the

match against

on 13 December 2015, in place of the injured

Leigh Griffiths Leigh Griffiths (born 20 August 1990) is a Scottish professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for Australian club Mandurah City. Griffiths started his career at Livingston where he made his debut as a sixteen-year-old. He ...

. He scored two goals as Celtic won 3–0.

Eskişehirspor (loan)

By the end of January 2016, Çiftçi had only scored four goals in 22 matches, albeit most of his appearances were from the substitutes bench. On 1 February 2016, it was reported that Celtic had lined up a loan move for Çiftçi for the rest of the season to Turkish club

. The loan deal was confirmed by Deila the following day during a press conference, with the Celtic manager stating that "Nadir was very keen to get out and play consistently" and adding "He's a young player and we felt it was a good idea and he will be back again in the summer." Çiftçi made his debut for the Turkish club on 7 February 2016 in a

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 ...

match away at

. However, he only lasted 34 minutes before being substituted for Vladyslav Kulach in a tactical switch. He was sent off in his next match a week later, a league match at home against

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Antalya. The club's colours are red and white. They play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the club won the First League twice in 1982 and 1 ...

, after picking up two yellow cards in the space of a minute. Çiftçi returned to the side on 13 March and scored his first goal for the club; running past two challenges before playing a one-two and shooting in a low drive for the opening goal in a 3–3 draw with

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

. The game ended in a mass brawl between the opposing sides, with Çiftçi seen to argue with

Bruno Mezenga Bruno Ferreira Mombra Rosa, better known as Bruno Mezenga (born August 8, 1988, in Niterói), is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a striker for CSA, on loan from Ferroviária. Career Flamengo He made his professional debut at the age of ...

amongst the on-field chaos.

Pogoń Szczecin (loan)

On 16 February 2017, Ciftci joined Polish club

on a loan deal until the end of the season. He had a disappointing spell there, criticised by the local media for appearing unfit and told by the club's manager he needed to improve. In the start of June 2017, Ciftci suffered an ankle injury and was sent back home to Celtic, having failed to net a single goal in eight appearances.

Plymouth Argyle (loan)

Çiftçi signed for

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

on 21 August 2017, on a season-long loan deal. His time at Plymouth was not a success; he made only six starts and two substitute appearances, and failed to score a goal. By January 2018, it was being reported that Çiftçi was likely to leave Plymouth during the transfer window.

Motherwell (loan)

On 9 January 2018, with his loan at Plymouth having been ended early, Çiftçi signed for

, again on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut for Motherwell on 20 January 2018, in a 2–0 win against

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Celtic confirmed that Çiftçi would leave the club on 30 June.

Gençlerbirliği

Çiftçi made his competitive debut for Gençlerbirliği on their opening league fixture of the season on 12 August 2018, coming on as a substitute on 81 minutes in a 1–0 win over

Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. History Hatayspor was founded on 23 July 1967. In July 2020, the team achieved promotion to t ...

. He helped his new club make a strong start to the season, winning their first nine league games, with Çiftçi scoring four goals.

Çaykur Rizespor

Çiftçi signed a two-year deal with

on 24 August 2020.

Samsunspor

After just a month long stint at

, Çiftçi signed a two-year deal with the

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

MKE Ankaragücü

In September 2021, Çiftçi signed with

MKE Ankaragücü MKE Ankaragücü or fully Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü (), is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Ankara. The football team wears a yellow and navy kit and plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium following the closure of th ...

, and was released in January 2022.

St Johnstone

On 5 January 2022, Çiftçi returned to Scotland after signing with

side

until the end of the season.

International career

Although Çiftçi has represented the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

at youth level, he has chosen to play for

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 ...

. In November 2010, Turkey national team coach

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

met Çiftçi to persuade him to switch his national allegiance to Turkey, and subsequently received a call-up after Çiftçi announced his desire to play for the country. On 8 March 2011, Çiftçi made his debut for Turkey, at under-19 level, in the match against Montenegro. This game ended 3–0. Two days later, he scored his first goal for under-19, in the match against Montenegro. This game ended 3–3. On 2 July 2013,

Pierre van Hooijdonk Pierre van Hooijdonk (; born 29 November 1969) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker. He had spells with clubs across Europe where he was a prolific goal scorer. Van Hooijdonk was capped 46 times for the Dutch nation ...

revealed that Çiftçi was about to make his senior Turkey debut but his passport application fell through, causing him to miss out on a first international cap at senior level.

Career statistics

Honours

(1): 2015-16

References

External links