Alper Potuk

Alper Potuk (born 8 April 1991) is a Turkish footballer who plays as a midfielder or winger.

Alper Potuk

Personal information
Full name	Alper Potuk[1]
Date of birth	(1991-04-08) 8 April 1991 (age 34)
Place of birth	Bolvadin, Turkey
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder / Winger
Youth career
2002–2005	Çifteler
2005–2009	Eskişehirspor
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2013	Eskişehirspor	106	(5)
2013–2020	Fenerbahçe	152	(12)
2020–2021	Ankaragücü	24	(2)
2021–2023	Çaykur Rizespor	52	(1)
2023–2025	Gostivar	48	(11)
International career‡
2010	Turkey U19	4	(1)
2010	Turkey U20	1	(0)
2010–2012	Turkey U21	11	(1)
2012	Turkey A2	2	(0)
2012–2018	Turkey	17	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 June 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23 March 2018

Early life

Potuk was born in Bolvadin, Afyonkarahisar Province, on 8 April 1991. He began playing football with friends in the street, receiving a strong backing from his family, especially his father and brother; his brother would give him a ride to watch Afyonkarahisarspor training sessions. Potuk's family relocated to Eskişehir because of his father's job.

Career

Eskişehirspor

Çiftelerspor signed the youngster in 2002, and he competed in their youth teams for three years. In a match against Eskişehirspor, Potuk scored his team's lone goal in a 1–4 loss, impressing the Eskişehirspor coaches. Potuk started his career in the city of Eskişehir, joining Çiftelerspor in 2002, before moving on to Eskişehirspor in 2005. He made his professional debut on 29 May 2009 against Gaziantepspor. In the second qualifying round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, he scored the first goal in a 2–0 win against Scottish Premier League side St Johnstone.

Fenerbahçe

On 22 May 2013, Alper completed a move to Fenerbahçe in five-year contract.^[2] The transfer involved Henri Bienvenu moving in the opposite direction, to Eskişehirspor, while Fenerbahçe also paid €6.25 million. According to the reports, a journalist interviewed with Alper in National Team Camp and He talked about his transfer rumor. He promised to Fenerbahçe for transfer. "Before the negotiate contract Fenerbahçe's Boss Aziz Yıldırım called me and they wanted to see me at Fenerbahçe. Also they will transfer great names and Fenerbahçe's squad will be more greater" said Alper. In addition to his conversation he said he is a fan of Fenerbahçe and if Fenerbahçe's managers will deal with Eskişehirspor, he will sign to Fenerbahçe. Then transfer completed after that. He said "I promised only Fenerbahçe. So I dealt with Fenerbahçe 15 days ago."^[3] On 31 August 2013, he scored his debut goal for the club in a Süper Lig match against Sivasspor.^[4]

International career

Potuk represented his country's U19, U20, and U21 teams. He played his first match for Turkey in a friendly game against Slovakia at Bursa Atatürk Stadium on 29 February 2012. He subsequently represented Turkey in 2014 World Cup qualifying, playing his first qualifier against Andorra on 22 March 2013.^[5]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 April 2024

Club	Season	League			Turkish Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Eskişehirspor	2008–09	Süper Lig	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	2009–10		16	0	3	0	—		—		19	0
	2010–11		24	0	1	0	—		—		25	0
	2011–12		35	2	3	0	—		—		38	2
	2012–13		30	3	9	0	4[a]	1	—		43	4
	Total		106	5	16	0	4	1	—		126	6
Fenerbahçe	2013–14	Süper Lig	28	1	1	0	4[b]	0	1[c]	0	34	1
	2014–15		30	3	5	0	—		1[c]	0	36	3
	2015–16		27	4	7	0	11[d]	1	—		45	5
	2016–17		29	1	5	0	9[a]	0	—		43	1
	2017–18		25	3	5	3	4[a]	0	—		34	6
	2018–19		8	0	0	0	6[e]	1	—		14	1
	2019–20		5	0	3	0	—		—		8	0
	Total		152	12	26	3	34	2	2	0	214	17
Ankaragücü	2020–21	Süper Lig	24	2	1	0	—		—		25	2
Çaykur Rizespor	2021–22	Süper Lig	22	0	1	0	—		—		23	0
	2022–23	TFF First League	30	1	1	0	—		—		31	1
	Total		52	1	2	0	—		—		54	1
KF Gostivar	2023–24	Macedonian First League	25	7	0	0	—		—		25	7
Career total			359	27	45	3	38	3	2	0	444	33

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearance in Turkish Super Cup
4. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
5. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 28 March 2018

Turkey
Year	Apps	Goals
2012	2	0
2013	6	0
2014	4	1
2015	2	0
2016	2	0
2017	0	0
2018	1	0
Total	17	1

Scores and results table. Turkey's goal tally first:

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	21 May 2014	Olympic Stadium Adem Jashari, Mitrovica, Kosovo	Kosovo	6–1	6–1	Friendly

Honours

Fenerbahçe

• Süper Lig: 2013–14
• Turkish Super Cup: 2014