Samet Akaydin (born 13 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

centre 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 Turkish

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

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Rize, a city on the eastern Black Sea region, Black Sea coast. The team competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of Football in Turkey, Turkish footba ...

and the

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team (), recognized as Türkiye by FIFA and UEFA, represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation (), the governing body for ...

Club career

Akaydin began his youth career with Black Sea Region-based clubs

Trabzon İdmanocağı İdmanocağı or İdman Ocağı is a Turkish sports club based in Trabzon, Turkey. The club had a strong rivalry with another club, İdmangücü, which matched the Istanbul derby between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. İdmanocağı were compared ...

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 ...

Boluspor Boluspor, known as Geosis Boluspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Bolu. The clubs plays in red and white kits, and have done so since their formation in 1965.Arsinspor Arsinspor is a sports club located in Trabzon, Turkey. The football club plays in the Turkish Regional Amateur League, Regional Amateur League. Current squad Starred players have Turkish citizenship also. References

. He played four seasons with

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

-based club

Sancaktepe Sancaktepe is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 63 km2, and its population is 489,848 (2022). In 2008 the district Sancaktepe was created from parts of the districts Kartal and Ümraniye. The urban part o ...

, one season with

Şanlıurfaspor Şanlıurfaspor is a Turkish sports club located in Urfa. The football (soccer), football team currently plays in the TFF First League. Current squad Out on loan Honours * TFF Second League ** Winners (1): ...

, one and a half seasons with Ankara Keçiörengücü.

Adana Demirspor

Akaydin moved to

side

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a multi-sports club based in Adana, Turkey. The football department is the most popular department which relegated to TFF 1. Lig on 16 March 2025 after 4 seasons at the Super Lig. Founded by railway workers of Turk ...

until the end of the 2023-24 season. On 23 January 2021, he made his debut 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 ...

. On 18 September 2021, he made his

debut against Rizespor in a 3-1 win. He showed a very successful performance with his club, made 49

(with 4 goals) and 6

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

appearances with the team and also made three

Turkish cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

apperarances and one goal. He had successful seasons and selected to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

Fenerbahçe

On 4 December 2023, Akaydin signed Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahçe, until the end of the 2026–27 season. He made his

debut for the team in a 2–1 away game win over Gaziantep FK on 15 January 2023. On 9 March 2023, he made his continental debut in the

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 ...

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 ...

match against

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. On 10 November 2024, he scored his first goal with the team against

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

Panathinaikos (loan)

On 14 January 2024, Akaydin joined Greek side Panathinaikos on loan from Fenerbahçe, until the end of the 2023–24 season. He was excluded from the squad due to his

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

social media post for Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day on 19 May 2024. Panathinaikos asked him to remove his post but he did't accept the club's request and did not remove the post, then he was excluded from the main squad. Akaydin, who informed Fenerbahçe that he wanted to leave Panathinaikos after what happened, decided to return to Turkey.

International career

Akaydin debuted with the Turkey national team in a friendly 2–1 win over the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

on 19 November 2022. Akaydin was selected to represent his nation at the

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 ...

. Notably, he scored an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

past Altay Bayındır from outside the box in the nation's 3–0 loss to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

during the group stage. On 6 July, he scored his first international goal, by opening the score in a 2–1 defeat against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the quarter-final of the competition.

Style of play

Akaydın is a quick, aggressive, physically strong, and tenacious defender, who was known for his work-rate, energy, and hard-tackling style of play. Due to his height, he was also an aerial threat on set-pieces.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Sancaktepe *

TFF Third League The TFF 3. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 3. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season as a continuation of then third level division Turkish Third Foot ...

: 2016–17 Adanademirspor *

: 2020–21 Fenerbahçe *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 2022–23 Panathinaikos *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akaydin, Samet 1994 births Living people Footballers from Trabzon Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Boluspor footballers Arsinspor footballers Şanlıurfaspor footballers Ankara Keçiörengücü S.K. footballers Adana Demirspor footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Panathinaikos F.C. players Çaykur Rizespor footballers Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players TFF Second League players TFF Third League players Super League Greece players Turkish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Greece UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Turkish sportsmen