Cenk_Özkaçar
Cenk Özkacar
Turkish footballer (born 2000)
Cenk Özkacar (born 6 October 2000) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a defender for La Liga club Valencia and the Turkey national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a left-back.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cenk Özkacar | ||
| Date of birth | (2000-10-06) 6 October 2000 (age 23) | ||
| Place of birth | İzmir, Turkey | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Valencia | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2013 | Bucaspor | ||
| 2013–2014 | Altinordu | ||
| 2014–2018 | Altay | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2020 | Altay | 12 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | → Karacabey Belediyespor (loan) | 23 | (1) |
| 2020–2021 | Lyon B | 2 | (0) |
| 2020–2023 | Lyon | 0 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → OH Leuven (loan) | 32 | (2) |
| 2022–2023 | → Valencia (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2023– | Valencia | 13 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019– | Turkey U21 | 6 | (0) |
| 2022– | Turkey | 8 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 March 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024 | |||
Early years in Turkey
Born in İzmir, Özkacar spent his youth career at local teams Bucaspor, Altinordu and Altay.[2] He made his professional debut in 2018, while on loan at Karacabey Belediyespor, before returning to Altay the following year.[2]
Lyon
On 18 August 2020, Özkacar joined Ligue 1 club Lyon on a five-year deal.[3] On 21 April 2021, he made his debut for Lyon as a late substitute for Léo Dubois during a 2–0 loss to Monaco in the Coupe de France.[4]
Loan to Leuven
On 6 July 2021, Belgian First Division A team OH Leuven presented Özkacar as new player, on loan from Lyon for one season.[5]
Loan to Valencia
In August 2022, Özkacar signed on loan for La Liga side Valencia.[6]
Valencia
On 1 July 2023, Valencia exercised their buy-option in the loan contract, signing Özkacar permanently. However, Özkacar scored an own-goal in a 1-0 loss against Deportivo Alaves,[7] and only started 35% of matches in La Liga by January 15 2024, leading some media outlets to report he was seeking a move away in order to make it in Turkey's Euro 2024 squad.[8]
Özkacar has been capped six time by the Turkey U21s.[2]
He had his first cap with the Turkey senior national team on 8 June 2022, getting subbed on in the UEFA Nations League match against Lithuania, replacing Ozan Kabak in the 76th minute. He managed to help his team keeping the clean sheet and ended up winning 6–0.[9]
Club
- As of 7 October 2023[10]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[lower-alpha 1] | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Karacabey Belediyespor (loan) | 2018–19 | TFF Third League | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| Altay | 2019–20 | TFF First League | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | |
| Lyon | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| OH Leuven (loan) | 2021–22 | Belgian First Division A | 32 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 2 | |
| Valencia (loan) | 2022–23 | La Liga | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Valencia | 2023–24 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 90 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 106 | 3 | ||
- Includes Turkish Cup, Coupe de France, Belgian Cup and Copa del Rey
- Appearances in Championnat National 2 with Lyon B
- Appearance in Supercopa de España
International
- As of match played 26 March 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | 2022 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 0 | |
- "Cenk Özkacar". LaLiga Santander. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- "Cenk Özkaçar Profile @ TFF.org" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 13 September 2023.
- "Cenk Özkaçar joins OL through 2025". Olympique Lyonnais. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
- "Cenk Özkaçar Lyon'da ilk maçına çıktı" (in Turkish). Ajansspor. 22 April 2021.
- "OH Leuven huurt Turkse jeugdinternational van Olympique Lyon" [OH Leuven loans Turkish youth international from Olympique Lyon] (in Dutch). Oud-Heverlee Leuven. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- "Ozkacar ya está en Valencia: Cuarto fichaje y cero euros de gasto" (in Spanish). Marca. 23 August 2022.
- "Valencia coach Baraja makes appeal to fans after Alaves defeat - Tribal Football". www.tribalfootball.com. 2024-01-19. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- "Valencia defender Cenk Özkacar rejects interest from Turkey - Get Spanish Football News". getfootballnewsspain.com. 2024-01-11. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- "Cenk Özkaçar Lyon'da ilk maçına çıktı" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 8 June 2022.
- Cenk Özkacar at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
- Cenk Özkacar at Soccerway
- Cenk Özkacar – French league stats at Ligue 1 – also available in French
- Cenk Özkacar at FootballDatabase.eu
