Ömer Mert Gündüz (born 24 April 2001) is a Dutch 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Turkish club

Fethiyespor Fethiyespor is a Turkish sports club based in Fethiye, Muğla. Fethiyespor were promoted to the Turkish Second Division in the 2005–06 season. In the 2011–12 football season, Fethiyespor reached the end of season promotion play-off games bu ...

Career

Feyenoord

From

Maassluis Maassluis () is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in and covered of which was water. It received town rights in 1811. History Maassluis was founded circa 1340 as a se ...

, in

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

, in 2012 he made the switch from

Excelsior Maassluis Excelsior Maassluis is a football club from Maassluis, Netherlands, founded in 1918. The club's home ground is the 5,000 capacity arena known as Sportpark Dijkpolder. History Excelsior won the Hoofdklasse of 2013 and became champions of the T ...

to join the football academy at

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

. He moved through the age group teams and signed his first professional contract with Feyenoord in June 2020. Shortly afterward he suffered a severe knee injury that curtailed his season very early. He had successful surgery on the cruciate ligament in his knee in October 2020 and began a period of rehabilitation. In March 2021 he signed a contract extension with Feyenoord, with Feyenoord technical director

Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the director of football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was sporting directo ...

commenting that between the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the knee injury he had not been given a chance to prove himself.

TOP Oss

In August 2022 Gündüz agreed a free transfer to

TOP Oss TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbrevia ...

following a short trial. He made his professional debut on 5 September 2022 for TOP Oss in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

against

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively fo ...

Fethiyespor

On 25 August 2023, Gündüz joined

in the Turkish third-tier

TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, 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 continu ...

on a two-year contract.

Personal life

Born in the Netherlands, Gündüz is of Turkish descent.

References

2001 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Dutch sportspeople of Turkish descent Men's association football midfielders Feyenoord players TOP Oss players Fethiyespor footballers Eerste Divisie players Footballers from South Holland Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 21st-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-footy-midfielder-stub