Çağlar Söyüncü

Çağlar Söyüncü (Turkish pronunciation: [tʃɑːˈɫɑr̥ sœjynˈdʒy]; born 23 May 1996) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Leicester City and the Turkey national team.

Çağlar Söyüncü
Söyüncü with Turkey in 2016
Personal information
Full name Çağlar Söyüncü[1]
Date of birth (1996-05-23) 23 May 1996[2][3]
Place of birth İzmir, Turkey
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[4]
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Leicester City
Number 4
Youth career
2006–2011 Menemen Belediyespor
2011–2013 Bucaspor
2013–2014 Gümüşorduspor
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Altınordu 34 (2)
2016–2018 SC Freiburg 50 (1)
2018– Leicester City 47 (1)
National team‡
2014 Turkey U18 1 (0)
2015 Turkey U19 3 (0)
2015 Turkey U20 3 (0)
2015 Turkey U21 1 (0)
2016– Turkey 30 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:13, 12 July 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:52, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

Söyüncü's first senior professional team was the Turkish second division Altınordu. In the summer of 2016, he joined SC Freiburg of Germany's Bundesliga, before moving to Leicester City of the English Premier League in 2018. He made his senior national team debut in 2016.

Club career

Altınordu

Söyüncü began his senior professional career with Altınordu in the TFF First League, the second level of the Turkish football league system. During the 2015–16 season with Altınordu, Söyüncü was linked with Beşiktaş J.K.,[5] Galatasaray S.K. and Sevilla FC but the 20 year old Turkish national player selected the Bundesliga because he thought it was better choice for his career and his improvement[6]

SC Freiburg

On 24 May 2016, in the 2016 Bundesliga summer transfer window, Söyüncü joined German side SC Freiburg, which was promoted to the top flight competition of Germany for the 2016–17 season.[7][8] He is the first Turkish footballer who made a transfer to the Bundesliga directly from the TFF First League, the second highest professional level football league of Turkey.[9]

He made his Bundesliga debut on week 1 encounter away against Hertha Berlin which ended in a 2–1 loss, on 28 August 2016.[10] He was linked with Lille OSC, A.S. Roma, and Villarreal CF during the mid-season transfer window of the 2016–17 season.[11] Manchester City was also reported to be interested in Söyüncü.[12]

Leicester City

On 9 August 2018, Söyüncü joined English Premier League side Leicester City on a five-year contract.[13] He signed for an apparent £18 million transfer fee, possibly rising to £20 million with addons.[14] Söyüncü had his Premier League debut on 27 October 2018 at the King Power Stadium where Leicester shared points with West Ham United following the final score of 1–1.[15]

Söyüncü scored his first Premier League goal in Leicester's 11th game of the 2019–20 season on 3 November 2019 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, a 2–0 win.[16][17]

International career

In November 2015, he was called up to Turkey national football team by coach Fatih Terim, following the injury of central defender Serdar Aziz.[18][19] Söyüncü is the first Altınordu player called up to Turkey national football team after 78 years, since Sait Altınordu, the iconic player of the club, was selected in 1937.[20] He is also the first player called up to national team from any İzmir-based football clubs since 1997. On 17 November 2015, Söyüncü was a reserve for the friendly game against Greece, but stayed on the bench and did not actually get a chance to play.[21] On 18 March 2016, he was called to national squad for friendly games against Sweden and Austria, to be held on 24 March 2016 in Antalya, Turkey and on 29 March in Austria, respectively.[22][23]

Substituting Ozan Tufan in the dying minutes of friendly game against Sweden, Söyüncü earned his first senior national team cap on 24 March 2016, Thursday.[24] Earning his second cap, he was in the starting line-up in the friendly with Russia on 1 September 2016, which ended 0–0.[25]

On 1 June 2018, Söyüncü scored his first senior international goal on a friendly game against Tunisia, held at Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.[26]

Style of play and reception

Possessing leadership attributes, Söyüncü is good at playmaking, dribbling and timing.[27] Standing at 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in), he is strong in the air.[27] In 2016, he stated that his idol is Spanish defender Carles Puyol and he admires German international Mats Hummels.[28]

Former English international and current pundit Martin Keown analysed Söyüncü for BBC Sport in 2019, describing him "a defender made for the modern game", highlighting his agility, aggressiveness and heading attributes.[29]

Career statistics

Club
Söyüncü playing for Altınordu S.K., in December 2015
As of 9 January 2021[30][31]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Altınordu 2014–15 TFF First League 4060—100
2015–16 TFF First League 30200—302
Total 34260—402
SC Freiburg 2016–17 Bundesliga 24010—250
2017–18 Bundesliga 26120—2[lower-alpha 1]0301
Total 50130—20551
Leicester City 2018–19 Premier League 600020—80
2019–20 Premier League 3414040—421
2020–21[32] Premier League 5010001[lower-alpha 1]060
Total 451506010571
Career total 129414060301524
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
(Correct as of match played on 6 September 2020).[33]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Turkey U-18 201410
Turkey U-19 201530
Turkey U-20 201530
Turkey U-21 201510
Junior total80
Turkey 201620
201790
2018111
201960
202020
Senior total301
Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.[34]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
11 June 2018Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland Tunisia2–22–2Friendly

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Çağlar Söyüncü". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. "Çağlar Söyüncü'nün doğum günü kutlandı" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 25 May 2018. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  3. "Çaglar Söyüncü: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  4. "Çaglar Söyüncü". Leicester City F.C. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  5. "Beşiktaş'tan Eto'o bombası!" (in Turkish). Milliyet. 24 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  6. "Çağlar Söyüncü için itiraf:Beşiktaş ve Sevilla" (in Turkish). Milliyet. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  7. "Offiziell: Söyüncü schlägt im Breisgau auf" (in German). Kicker. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  8. "Freiburg sign Turkey defender Caglar Söyüncü". www.bundesliga.com. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  9. "1. Lig'den yurt dışına ilk transfer" (in Turkish). Al Jazeera Türk. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  10. "Çağlar Söyüncü Freiburg ile ilk maçına çıktı" (in Turkish). Fanatik. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  11. "Çağlar Söyüncü'nün yıldızı parlıyor" (in Turkish). Four Four Two Turkish Edition. 2 February 2017. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  12. "Leicester City Agree Çağlar Söyüncü Transfer". Leicester City F.C. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  13. "Leicester City 'agree Caglar Soyuncu fee'". Sports Mole. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  14. "As it happened: Leicester City 1-1 West Ham United" (in Turkish). West Ham United. 27 October 2018. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  15. Saj Chowdhury (3 November 2019). "Crystal Palace 0-2 Leicester: Caglar Soyuncu and Jamie Vardy scores as Foxes go third". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  16. "Çağlar Söyüncü gol attı, İngiltere sallandı!" (in Turkish). Habertürk. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  17. "Hedefim kalıcı olmak" (in Turkish). Habertürk. 15 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  18. "Terim'den sürpriz davet!" (in Turkish). NTV Spor. 14 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  19. "İzmir'in son gururu: Çağlar Söyüncü" (in Turkish). TFF. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  20. "Türkiye 0–0 Yunanistan" (in Turkish). TFF. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  21. "A Milli Takım'ın İsveç ve Avusturya maçları aday kadrosu ve programı" (in Turkish). TFF. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  22. "A Milli Takımı'nın Aday Kadrosu Açıkandı" (in Turkish). Milliyet. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  23. "Türkiye 2–1 İsveç" (in Turkish). TFF. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  24. "Türkiye – Rusya: 0–0" (in Turkish). NTV Spor. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  25. "Tunus - Türkiye Maç Detayı - TFF" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 1 May 2018. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  26. "Bu çocukta iş var: Çağlar Söyüncü (Altınordu)" (in Turkish). Four Four Two Turkish Edition. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  27. "A Milli Takımı'nın Aday Kadrosu Açıkandı" (in Turkish). Milliyet. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  28. Martin Keown (3 November 2019). "Leicester defender Caglar Soyuncu is 'a defender made for the modern game' - Martin Keown analysis" (in Turkish). BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  29. "C. Söyüncü". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  30. "Çağlar Söyüncü (Altınordu) @ Maçkolik.com" (in Turkish). mackolik.com. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  31. "Games played by Çağlar Söyüncü in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  32. "Çağlar Söyüncü TFF Futbolcu Bilgileri" (in Turkish). TFF. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  33. "Söyüncü, Çağlar". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  34. "PFA Player of the Year: Kevin de Bruyne and Beth England named 2020 winners". BBC Sport. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
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