Quick Facts
CapricornBiography
Orkun Kökçü (Turkish pronunciation: [oɾˈkun ˈkœktʃy]; born 29 December 2000) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Turkey national team.
Club career
Feyenoord
A youth product of FC Groningen, where he arrived after having played for local clubs around his hometown Haarlem, Kökçü joined the Feyenoord youth academy in 2014. He made his debut for Feyenoord at the age of 17 in a 4–0 win over VV Gemert in the first round of the KNVB Cup on 17 September 2018, scoring Feyenoord's second goal. He made his Eredivisie debut against FC Emmen on 9 December 2018, and contributed with a goal and an assist after coming on as a substitute. On 10 April 2019, he extended his contract at Feyenoord until 2023. On 26 June 2020, he reached an agreement to extend his contract with Feyenoord for another two years, a deal to the end of the 2024–25 season.
Following Jens Toornstra's departure, Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot chose Kökçü as his club captain on 2 September 2022. With Kökçü as captain, Feyenoord went on to win the 2022–23 Eredivisie.
Benfica
On 10 June 2023, Kökçü joined Benfica on a five-year deal for a reported fee of €25 million, plus €5 million in variables. The sum represented a record signing for the Portuguese club and the league surpassing Darwin Núñez transfer from Almería to Benfica in 2020 for transfer fee of €24 million and a club record sale for Feyenoord becoming the club's biggest sale since Kökçu's former Feyenoord teammate Luis Sinisterra's transfer to Leeds United in 2022 for a fee of €25 million.
Kökçü made his debut for Benfica in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, starting in a 2–0 win over rivals FC Porto. He scored his first goal on 2 September, netting Benfica's third goal in a 4–0 home win over Vitória de Guimarães. Kökçü made his UEFA Champions League debut on 20 September, starting in a 2–0 home loss to Red Bull Salzburg.
International career
Kökçü was a youth international for the Netherlands, having represented the Netherlands U18s, and Netherlands U19s. In July 2019 Kökçü announced the intent to play for the Turkey national team. He represented the Turkey U21s in a 3–2 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification loss to the England U21s on 6 September 2019.
He made his Turkey national team debut on 6 September 2020 in a Nations League game against Serbia, he started the game and played the first hour of the 0–0 away draw.
Personal life
Born in the Netherlands, Kökçü is of Turkish descent. He is the younger brother of the professional footballer Ozan Kökçü. He is a lifelong fan of Beşiktaş and in the future he wants to play for the club he's been supporting since childhood.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 17 May 2024
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Feyenoord | 2018–19 | Eredivisie | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20 | Eredivisie | 22 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | — | 35 | 3 | |||
| 2020–21 | Eredivisie | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 4 | ||
| 2021–22 | Eredivisie | 32 | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 2 | — | 51 | 9 | |||
| 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 32 | 8 | 4 | 1 | — | 10 | 3 | — | 46 | 12 | |||
| Total | 119 | 23 | 11 | 2 | — | 43 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 175 | 32 | |||
| Benfica | 2023–24 | Primeira Liga | 27 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 7 |
| Career total | 146 | 30 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 218 | 39 | ||
International
- As of match played 22 June 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | 2020 | 2 | 0 |
| 2021 | 11 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 2 | |
Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 November 2021 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 13 |  Montenegro | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 25 March 2023 | Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia | 19 |  Armenia | 1–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
Honours
Feyenoord
- Eredivisie: 2022–23
- Johan Cruyff Shield: 2018
- UEFA Europa Conference League runner-up: 2021–22
Benfica
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2023
Individual
- Eredivisie Player of the Year: 2022–23
- Eredivisie Talent of the Month: December 2019, March 2021
- Eredivisie Player of the Month: January 2022, February 2022
- Eredivisie Team of the Month: August 2021, December 2021, January 2022, February 2022, April 2022, September 2022, October 2022, November 2022, March 2023, April 2023
- Primeira Liga Goal of the Month: September 2023
