Okay Yokuşlu (, born 9 March 1994) 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

defensive 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. ...

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

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

and the Turkey national team.

Club career

On 27 June 2011, at the age of 17, he signed for

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

for a record transfer fee for Altay of TRY 2.3 million (€1 million). He made his

debut in the starting line-up in which Kayserispor were beaten by

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 ...

with 1–0 final score, on 16 September 2011. On 1 February 2021, Yokuşlu joined English club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

on loan from

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. Six days later, he made his debut for Albion as a substitute for

Romaine Sawyers Romaine Theodore Sawyers (born 2 November 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Bristol Rovers. He will become a free agent on 30 June 2025. Born in England, he represents the Saint Kitts and Nevis national te ...

in a 2–0 away league defeat by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. On 26 January 2022, Yokuşlu moved to fellow

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

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

on loan until June. On 18 July 2022, Yokuşlu returned to now

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club West Bromwich Albion on a three-year contract following his departure from Celta Vigo. He scored his first goal for the club on 1 November 2022 in a 1–0 home win against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. On 5 May 2023, Yokuşlu won West Brom's 2022–23 players' player of the Year award in his first full season with the club. On 31 July 2024, Yokuşlu returned to

club

for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Okay was selected for Turkey's U-20 squad for the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

. He scored "a beautifully judged chip over the stranded oalkeeperfrom " to complete the hosts' 2–1 defeat of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and progression to the last 16 of the competition. On 6 November 2015, Yokuşlu was selected for the

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

national football team to play friendlies against Qatar and Greece respectively. He made his debut as a late sub 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 ...

in a 0–0 tie. In June 2021, he was included in the list of 26 Turkish players to compete for

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 ...

. On 7 June 2024, he is in the final list of 26 players selected by

Vincenzo Montella Vincenzo Montella (; born 18 June 1974) is an Italian association football, football manager and former striker (association football), striker. He is the current head coach of the Turkey national football team. Montella's nickname during his p ...

to compete for

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

References

External links

* * *
Profile
at

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yokuslu, Okay 1994 births Living people Footballers from Konak Footballers from İzmir Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players La Liga players Karşıyaka S.K. footballers Altay S.K. footballers Kayserispor footballers Trabzonspor footballers RC Celta de Vigo players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Getafe CF footballers Turkish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England UEFA Euro 2020 players Premier League players English Football League players UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Turkish sportsmen