Yunus Akgün

Yunus Akgün
Akgün playing with Adana Demirspor in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-07-07) 7 July 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Küçükçekmece, Turkey
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, right winger
Team information
Current team
 Galatasaray
Number 11
Youth career
2011–2018 Galatasaray
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018– Galatasaray 58 (7)
2020–2021 → Adana Demirspor (loan) 28 (5)
2021–2022 → Adana Demirspor (loan) 34 (8)
2023–2024 → Leicester City (loan) 23 (1)
International career‡
2015–2016 Turkey U16 9 (2)
2016–2017 Turkey U17 24 (4)
2018–2019 Turkey U19 9 (4)
2019 Turkey U20 1 (0)
2019 Turkey U21 4 (0)
2022– Turkey 14 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:41, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:16, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Yunus Akgün (born 7 July 2000) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or right winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray, and the Turkey national team.

Club career

Galatasaray

Akgün is a product of the Galatasaray youth academy, joining in 2011. He made his professional debut for Galatasaray in the 2018 Turkish Super Cup 1–1 (5–4) penalty shootout loss against Akhisar Belediyespor on 5 August 2018.[1] On 29 January 2019, Akgün scored a hat-trick in 4–1 win of Turkish Cup match against Boluspor.[2]

Adana Demirspor (loan)

On 6 September 2021, Adana Demirspor re-hired Akgün, who played last season, from Galatasaray.[3]

Return to Galatasaray

Akgün became the champion in the Süper Lig in the 2022–23 season with the Galatasaray team. Defeating Ankaragücü 4–1 away in the match played in the 36th week on 30 May 2023, Galatasaray secured the lead with two weeks before the end and won the 23rd championship in its history.[4]

Leicester City (loan)

On 26 August 2023, Leicester City signed Akgün on loan for the 2023–24 season.[5][6] He made his debut for the club three days later in a 2–0 away win against Tranmere Rovers in the second round of the EFL Cup.[7] On 27 January 2024, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 home win against Birmingham City in the fourth round of the FA Cup.[8]

Return to Gala after second loan

After successive summer at Euro 2024, Akgün has had a promising start to the 2024–25 season with Galatasaray. As of mid-October 2024, he had played 13 matches across all competitions, scoring 5 goals and providing 1 assist. In addition to his goal contributions, Akgün showed versatility by playing both wings and has been a regular starter in both the Süper Lig and Europa League matches. This strong form has allowed him to cement his position as a key player for Galatasaray, filling in after key departures like Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Wilfried Zaha.

International career

Akgün is a youth international for Turkey. He represented the Turkey U17s at the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship,[9] and the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[10]

Akgün made his senior debut for Turkey on 4 June 2022, in a UEFA Nations League tie at home to the Faroe Islands.[11] Akgün scored his first senior level goal for Turkey on the occasion of his second cap, scoring the fifth goal of six away to Lithuania on 7 June 2022 in another UEFA Nations League tie.[12]

He was named in Turkey's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 November 2024[14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Galatasaray 2018–19 Süper Lig 11 0 6 4 — 2[c] 0 1[d] 0 20 4
2019–20 Süper Lig 5 1 2 0 — 0 0 0 0 7 1
2021–22 Süper Lig 0 0 0 0 — 1[e] 0 — 1 0
2022–23 Süper Lig 25 1 3 0 — — — 28 1
2023–24 Süper Lig 1 0 0 0 — 4[f] 0 0 0 5 0
2024–25 Süper Lig 11 2 0 0 — 4[g] 4 1[d] 0 13 5
Total 53 4 11 4 — 11 4 2 0 77 12
Adana Demirspor (loan) 2020–21 TFF First League 28 5 4 2 — — — 32 7
2021–22 Süper Lig 34 8 4 1 — — — 38 9
Total 62 13 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 70 16
Leicester City (loan) 2023–24 Championship 23 1 4 1 2 0 — — 29 2
Career total 138 18 23 8 2 0 11 4 2 0 176 30
  1. ^ Includes Turkish Cup, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ a b Appearance in Turkish Super Cup
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  7. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 19 November 2024[15]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Turkey 2022 5 1
2023 2 1
2024 7 0
Total 14 2
Turkey score listed first, score column indicates score after each Akgün goal.
List of international goals scored by Yunus Akgün
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 7 June 2022 LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania 2  Lithuania 5–0 6–0 2022–23 UEFA Nations League [16]
2 15 October 2023 Medaş Konya Büyükşehir Stadyumu, Konya, Turkey 6  Latvia 1–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying [17]

Honours

Galatasaray

Leicester City

References

  1. ^ "Galatasaray 1-1 AkhisarsporNormal süre sona erdi – Kupalar TFF". tff.org.
  2. ^ "Galatasaray'da Yunus Akgün fırtınası! Hat-trick yaptı, maç topunu aldı". Sabah (in Turkish).
  3. ^ "Yunus Akgün'ün Adana Demirspor'a geçici transferi hakkında". Galatasaray S.K. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Turkish Super Lig: Galatasaray win title for 23rd time after beating Ankaragucu 4–1". BBC Sport. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  5. ^ "About the temporary transfer of our football player Yunus Akgün". Galatasaray SK. 26 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Leicester City Confirm Loan Signing Of Yunus Akgün". Leicester City F.C. 26 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Carabao Cup: Tranmere Rovers 0–2 Leicester City – Jamie Vardy scores as Foxes reach third round". BBC Sport. 29 August 2023.
  8. ^ "FA Cup: Leicester City 3–0 Birmingham City – Jamie Vardy helps Foxes reach fifth round". BBC Sport. 27 January 2024.
  9. ^ "U17 Milliler, Hırvatistan'daki ilk antrenmanını yaptı". www.tff.org (in Turkish).
  10. ^ "U17 Milli Takımı, Dünya Kupası hazırlıklarına başladı" (in Turkish). Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Player details TFF". www.tff.org (in Turkish).
  12. ^ "Player details TFF". tff.org (in Turkish).
  13. ^ "A Millî Takımımızın EURO 2024 Aday Kadrosu Açıklandı" [EURO 2024 Candidate Squad of Our National Team Announced] (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Y. AKGÜN". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  15. ^ "Akgün, Yunus". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Lithuania vs. Türkiye 0–6: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Türkiye vs. Latvia 4–0: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  18. ^ "CUMHURİYETİN YÜZÜ, TÜRKİYE'NİN EN BÜYÜĞÜ, ŞAMPİYON GALATASARAY!". Galatasaray S.K. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Championship: 2023/24: Current table". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
    "Leicester: Squad details: 2023/24". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
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