İsmail Köybaşı (born 10 July 1989) 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

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Göztepe.

Early life and club career

Born to a family from İskenderun, Köybaşı had begun to play football for

İskenderunspor İskenderunspor is a defunct sports club based in İskenderun, Turkey. In 2009 a Phoenix club (association football), phoenix club called İskenderunspor 1967 was founded continuing its traditions. Another club İskenderun FK was renamed to İske ...

, a local club. Köybaşı started out as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, but moved to left back after recommendations from his colleagues. He briefly played for another local club, İskenderun Kartalspor, before joining

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matc ...

in 2006.

Gaziantepspor

Köybaşı began his professional career in the youth divisions of

. On 6 May 2008, he signed his first professional contract. He featured in 24 matches with 21 starts during the 2008–09 season. At the end of the season, he was linked with the big four clubs of Turkey, choosing

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 ...

in the end.

Beşiktaş

Köybaşı joined Beşiktaş in June 2009 for a fee of €6.5 million, as well as an exchange of two Beşiktaş players. He began playing with the team during pre-season friendlies, and made his competitive debut in a

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

match against Fenerbahçe on 2 August 2009. In November 2009, he provided the assist to

Rodrigo Tello Rodrigo Álvaro Tello Valenzuela (born 14 October 1979) is a Chilean former professional footballer. He operated mainly as a left midfielder, but could also appear in the middle and as an attacking left back. He spent the better part of his e ...

's goal in a 1–0 victory 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 ...

against Manchester Utd in the Champions League. It was the first time since February 2005, spanning 23 games, that United had lost a group stage Champions League fixture at home. He scored his first league goal against Ankaragücü in December 2009. In September 2011, he provided two assists against

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

, one from the free kick when

Tomáš Sivok Tomáš Sivok (born 15 September 1983) is a Czech former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back or midfielder. He made 64 appearances for the Czech national football team, Czech national team scoring 5 goals. At ...

scored with his head in the 87th minute and the second with a cross to

Filip Hološko Filip Hološko (; born 17 January 1984) is a Slovak former professional footballer who played as a forward or winger. Club career Beşiktaş At the mid of 2007–08 season, he was transferred to Beşiktaş JK in exchange of the forward Burak ...

who also scored with his head in the 90th minute securing the victory of 2–1 in an away game.

Fenerbahçe

On 14 July 2016, he signed a 3-year contract with the club.

Granada

On 29 August 2019,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

Köybaşı signed a one-year deal with newly-promoted

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 ...

side

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

International career

Köybaşı has featured for Turkey at U-21's level, where he gained five caps. Köybaşı was called up to the senior national team by

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 ...

for a friendly match against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

on 12 August 2009. He won his first cap, replacing

Arda Turan Arda Turan (born 30 January 1987) is a Turkish professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Ukrainian Premier League club FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Shakhtar Do ...

in the 86th minute.

Career statistics

As of 15 May 2016.

Honours

;Beşiktaş *

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 ...

: 2015–16 * Türkiye Kupası:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

;Trabzonspor *

: 2021–22 Individual * Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2015–16

References

External links

TFF Profile
*
Köybaşı interview on Tam Saha, TFF official magazine
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koybasi, Ismail 1989 births Living people Turkish Arab people People from İskenderun Turkish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Gaziantepspor footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Trabzonspor footballers Göztepe S.K. footballers Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Granada CF footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players Turkey men's youth international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkish expatriate men's footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain La Liga players Footballers from Hatay 21st-century Turkish sportsmen