Çağlar Söyüncü (; born 23 May 1996) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club Fenerbahçe and the Turkey national team. Söyüncü's first senior professional team was the Turkish second division Altınordu. In the summer of 2016, he joined

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

of Germany's

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, before moving to Leicester City in 2018. He made 132 total appearances for Leicester, winning the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

in 2021. In 2023, he moved to

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

and soon on to Fenerbahçe, initially on loan. Söyüncü made his senior national team debut in 2016 and has earned over 50 caps for Turkey. He was part of the Turkish squad at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

Club career

Altınordu

Söyüncü began his senior professional career with Altınordu in the

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 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 ...

, the second level of the Turkish football league system. During the 2015–16 season with Altınordu, Söyüncü was linked with

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

, Galatasaray and

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, but he selected the Bundesliga because he thought it was better choice for his career and his improvement.

SC Freiburg

On 24 May 2016, in the 2016 Bundesliga summer transfer window, Söyüncü joined German side

, which was promoted to the top flight competition of Germany for the 2016–17 season. He is the first Turkish footballer who made a transfer to the

directly from the

, the second-highest professional level football league of Turkey. He made his Bundesliga debut away against Hertha Berlin which ended in a 2–1 loss, on 28 August 2016. He was linked with

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, Roma, and Villarreal during the mid-season transfer window of the 2016–17 season.

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

was also reported to be interested in Söyüncü.

Leicester City

On 9 August 2018, Söyüncü joined English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side Leicester City on a five-year contract. He signed for an apparent £18 million transfer fee, possibly rising to £20 million with add-ons. Söyüncü had his Premier League debut on 27 October 2018 at the

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium is a football stadium in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England, and the home of Leicester City. The stadium opened in 2002 as the Walkers Stadium and has a capacity of 32,259. The club attracted worldwide attenti ...

where Leicester shared points with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

following the final score of 1–1. Söyüncü scored his first Premier League goal in Leicester's 11th game of the 2019–20 season on 3 November 2019 against Crystal Palace at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

, a 2–0 win. His performances during the 2019–20 season earned him a place in the Premier League

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

. On 11 May 2021, Söyüncü scored the winning goal for Leicester City in a 2–1 away victory over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, to be their first win at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

since 1998. Four days later he played in the 2021 FA Cup final against Chelsea, a 1–0 win; Jacob Steinburg of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' said he stood firm after fellow defender

Jonny Evans Jonathan Grant Evans (born 3 January 1988) is a Northern Irish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Evans started his career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, having progressed throug ...

was substituted with injury. In August, he featured in the 2021 FA Community Shield, a 1–0 win against league champions

. During the 2022–23 season Söyüncü found himself out of the first 11, despite having played more than 20 matches per season for the previous three seasons. This was allegedly due to a personality clash with manager Brendan Rodgers. Söyüncü impressed when he was restored to the team after

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball Coach (basketball), head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North C ...

took over as manager, however this was insufficient to prevent relegation. On 5 June 2023, following the club's relegation from the

, it was announced that Söyüncü and six other first team players would be leaving the club upon the expiration of their contracts at the end of the month.

Atlético Madrid

On 5 July 2023, Söyüncü joined Spanish

side

on a four-year deal. He played nine games, of which six in the league (115 minutes), two in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

(59 minutes) and one half of a

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

match. He was sent off in a 1–0 win over

on 23 December for a foul on Lucas Ocampos, only four minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Fenerbahçe

On 29 January 2024, Söyüncü signed for

club Fenerbahçe on loan for the rest of the season. On 3 February 2024, he make his

debut in his career against

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional multi-sport club based in Antalya, southern Turkey. The club's colours are red and white. The association football, football side play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the cl ...

in a 2-0 away win. Four days later, on 7 February 2024, he made his

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () 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''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

debut with the team against

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

in a 2-0 away win and helped his team to reached quarter final. On 8 March 2024, he made his continental debut with the team in a 3-0 away victory against Union SG, also made an assist. He scored twice in his first half-season, including the only goal on 19 May away to rivals Galatasaray. His move became permanent on 1 July, on a three-year deal with the option for one more. Atlético, who had paid no fee to sign him, received €8 million in the deal.

International career

In November 2015, he was called up to

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team (), recognized as Türkiye by FIFA and UEFA, represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation (), the governing body for ...

by coach

Fatih Terim Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish people, Turkish professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab FC (Riyadh), Al-Shabab ...

, following the injury of central defender Serdar Aziz. Söyüncü is the first Altınordu player called up to Turkey national football team after 78 years, since Sait Altınordu, the iconic player of the club, was selected in 1937. He is also the first player called up to national team from any İzmir-based football clubs since 1997. On 17 November 2015, Söyüncü was a reserve for the friendly game against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, but stayed on the bench and did not actually get a chance to play. On 18 March 2016, he was called to national squad for friendly games against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, to be held on 24 March 2016 in Antalya, Turkey and on 29 March in Austria, respectively.>> Substituting for Ozan Tufan in the dying minutes of a friendly game against Sweden, Söyüncü earned his first senior national team cap on 24 March 2016.> Earning his second cap, he was in the starting line-up in the friendly with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

on 1 September 2016, which ended 0–0. On 1 June 2018, Söyüncü scored his first senior international goal on a friendly game against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, held at

Stade de Genève Stade de Genève (Stadium of Geneva), also called Stade de la Praille, is a stadium in Lancy, Canton of Geneva. It has a capacity of 30,084. Overview The stadium was completed in 2003 by Implenia, Zschokke Construction S.A. after nearly three y ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland. On 1 June 2021, he was selected in the 26-man squad for the

. On 24 May 2024, he was named in the 35-man preliminary squad for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. However, on 29 May, he was withdrawn due to injury.

Style of play and reception

Possessing leadership attributes, Söyüncü is good at playmaking, dribbling and timing. Standing at , he is strong in the air. In 2016, he stated that his idol is Spanish defender Carles Puyol and he admires German international

Mats Hummels Mats Julian Hummels (; born 16 December 1988) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his well-timed tackles, accurate long passes from the back, aerial ability and strength, he is r ...

. Former English international and current

pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

Martin Keown Martin Raymond Keown ( ; born 24 July 1966) is an English football pundit and former professional footballer. A defender, he played from 1984 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal, where he made over 400 appearances for the club an ...

analysed Söyüncü for ''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

'' in 2019, describing him "a defender made for the modern game", highlighting his agility, aggressiveness and heading attributes.

Personal life

Söyüncü is a longtime fan of Fenerbahçe since his childhood.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.''

Honours

Leicester City *

: 2020–21 *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Individual * Turkish Footballer of the Year: 2019 *

2019–20 Premier League The 2019–20 Premier League was the 28th season of the Premier League, the top English professional association football, football league, since its establishment in 1992, and the 121st season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

References

External links

Çağlar Söyüncü
at fenerbahce.org
Çağlar Söyüncü
at the

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Foo ...

website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soyuncu, Caglar 1996 births Living people Footballers from İzmir Turkish men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Altınordu F.K. players SC Freiburg players Leicester City F.C. players Atlético Madrid footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Bundesliga players Premier League players La Liga players Turkey men's youth international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Turkey men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players Turkish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Spain 21st-century Turkish sportsmen