Orkun Kökçü (; born 29 December 2000) is a 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

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

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 ...

, on loan from

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club Benfica. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Turkey national team.

Club career

Feyenoord

A youth product of

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...

, where he arrived after having played for local clubs around his hometown

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, Kökçü joined the

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 ...

youth academy in 2014. He made his debut for Feyenoord at the age of 17 in a 4–0 win over

VV Gemert Voetbalvereniging Gemert is a football club from Gemert, Netherlands. They compete in the . History Gemert's recent appearances in the Dutch national cup were in 2006–07, 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2012–13. In 2012–13 it reached the se ...

in the first round of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

on 17 September 2018, scoring Feyenoord's second goal. He made his

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

debut against

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch professional football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1925, the club ...

on 9 December 2018, and contributed with a goal and an assist after coming on as a substitute. On 10 April 2019, he extended his contract at Feyenoord until 2023. On 26 June 2020, he reached an agreement to extend his contract with Feyenoord for another two years, a deal to the end of the 2024–25 season. Following

Jens Toornstra Jens Toornstra (born 4 April 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for Eredivisie side FC Utrecht. He usually plays as an attacking midfielder. Club career Early career Toornstra was born in Ter Aar. In his youth, he played eight ...

's departure, Feyenoord head coach

Arne Slot Arend Martijn "Arne" Slot (; born 17 September 1978) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. He is regarded as one of t ...

chose Kökçü as his

club captain The captain of a football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influ ...

on 2 September 2022. With Kökçü as captain, Feyenoord went on to win the

2022–23 Eredivisie The 2022–23 Eredivisie was the 67th season of the Eredivisie, the premier football competition in the Netherlands. It began on 5 August 2022 and concluded on 28 May 2023. As the 2022 FIFA World Cup started on 20 November, the last round befor ...

Benfica

On 10 June 2023, Kökçü joined Benfica on a five-year deal for a reported fee of €25 million, plus €5 million in variables. The sum represented a record signing for the Portuguese club and the league surpassing

Darwin Núñez Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro (; born 24 June 1999) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and the Uruguay national football team ...

transfer from

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

to Benfica in 2020 for transfer fee of €24 million and a club record sale for Feyenoord becoming the club's biggest sale since Kökçu's former Feyenoord teammate Luis Sinisterra's transfer to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in 2022 for a fee of €25 million. Kökçü made his debut for Benfica in the

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

, starting in a 2–0 win over

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

. He scored his first goal on 2 September, netting Benfica's third goal in a 4–0 home win over

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

. Kökçü made his

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 ...

debut on 20 September, starting in a 2–0 home loss to Red Bull Salzburg.

Beşiktaş

On 12 July 2025, Kökçü agreed on a loan deal with

club

with an option to buy.

International career

Kökçü was a youth international for the Netherlands, having represented the Netherlands U18s, and Netherlands U19s. In July 2019, Kökçü announced the intent to play for the Turkey national team. He represented the Turkey U21s in a 3–2

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 association football, football tournament that determined the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Hungary national under-21 fo ...

loss to the

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is the national under-21 association football team of England, under the control of the Football Association. It is considered to be the feeder team ...

s on 6 September 2019. He made his Turkey national team debut on 6 September 2020 in a Nations League game against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, he started the game and played the first hour of the 0–0 away draw.

Personal life

Born in the Netherlands, Kökçü is of Turkish descent, from Suvermez, Emirdağ. He is the younger brother of the professional footballer

Ozan Kökçü Ozan Can Kökçü (born 18 August 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Azerbaijan national team. Club career Bursaspor On 29 March 2017, Ozan Kökçü signed a four-year contra ...

who plays internationally for the Azerbaijan national team. He is a lifelong fan of

and indicated a desire to play for the club he had been supporting since childhood.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Feyenoord *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

runner-up:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Benfica *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

: 2024–25 *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual * Eredivisie Player of the Year:

* Eredivisie Talent of the Month: December 2019,

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

* Eredivisie Player of the Month: January 2022, February 2022 * Eredivisie Team of the Month: August 2021, December 2021, January 2022,

February 2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, April 2022, September 2022, October 2022, November 2022, March 2023, April 2023 *

Goal of the Month: September 2023

References

External links

Profile
at the S.L. Benfica website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kokcu, Orkun Living people 2000 births Footballers from Haarlem Turkish men's footballers Dutch men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Turkey men's international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Feyenoord players S.L. Benfica footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Eredivisie players Primeira Liga players Süper Lig players UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA Euro 2024 players Dutch sportspeople of Turkish descent Turkish people of Dutch descent Turkish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Portugal 21st-century Dutch sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen People from Emirdağ