Salih Uçan (born 6 January 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

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

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 ...

Club career

Fenerbahçe

Fenerbahçe signed Uçan for €1.4 million on 6 June 2012, for a five-year contract worth €220,000 per season. This transfer fee marked the highest fee paid to a Turkish youth player. On 14 March 2013, he scored his debut goal for the club in an

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

match against

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victor ...

in the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. His contribution helped Fenerbahçe secure qualification to the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the Europa League with a 1–1 draw in the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium. He scored two goals against

Orduspor Orduspor is a Turkish football club founded in 1967. The club is located in Ordu, Turkey and played their home games at 19 Eylül Stadium. The team managed to qualify for the Turkish Super League again in 2011. But the last spell in top level ...

on 7 April 2013 and helped Fenerbahçe win four games in a row in the

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 ...

Roma (loan)

On 7 July 2014, after weeks of protracted negotiations, Uçan's move to Roma on a two-year loan deal for a fee of €4.75 million was completed. The agreement included an option for Roma to either extend the loan by another year or to sign Uçan outright for €11 million in 2016. He made his official Roma debut in the 3–0 victory against Chievo on 18 October 2014. After two years with just 10 appearances, Roma chose to not make use of the option of a permanent signing. In July 2016 Uçan returned to Fenerbahçe at the end of his two-year loan spell at Roma but 1 year later he loaned out again to Swiss club Sion.

Sion (loan)

On 31 August 2017, he was loaned out for a second time joining

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

FC Sion Football Club Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss Association football, football club from the city of Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have wo ...

. In his one-year loan spell he played 19 league matches and 1 match in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

. In July 2018 Uçan returned to Fenerbahçe for second time at the end of his one-year loan spell at Sion however he played friendly matches on his second return.

Empoli (loan)

On 17 August 2018, Uçan joined to Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

on loan until 30 June 2019. Uçan scored on his debut for the club, the final goal in a 3–3 draw with

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

on 21 October 2018. On 31 January 2019, the last day of the 2018–19 winter transfer window, it was announced that the move had been made permanent.

Alanyaspor

On 10 July 2019, Uçan signed to Turkish club

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü, known as Corendon Alanyaspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are play ...

Beşiktaş

After his contract expired with

in June 2021, Uçan joined current Turkish champions

on a free transfer. On 4 July 2021, Beşiktaş announced the arrival of Uçan. On 28 June 2024, Uçan has signed a new 2+1 year contract with Beşiktaş.

İstanbul Başakşehir (loan)

On 28 January 2022, he joined İstanbul Başakşehir on loan, until the end of the season.

International career

Uçan played all the age categories for the Turkey national team. He was also a part of Turkey national under-20 football team during 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, ...

. On 15 November 2013, he played his first national match for

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 ...

against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

. A decade later he played 2 games.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ucan, Salih 1994 births Living people People from Marmaris 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 Serie A players Swiss Super League players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Bucaspor footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players AS Roma players Empoli FC players Turkish expatriate men's footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 21st-century Turkish sportsmen