Enes Ünal

Turkish footballer (born 1997)

Enes Ünal
Ünal in 2016
Personal information
Full name Enes Ünal[1]
Date of birth (1997-05-10) 10 May 1997 (age 26)
Place of birth Osmangazi, Turkey
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Bournemouth
(on loan from Getafe)
Number 26
Youth career
2006–2013 Bursaspor
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Bursaspor 35 (4)
2015–2017 Manchester City 0 (0)
2015–2016 → Genk (loan) 12 (1)
2016 → NAC Breda (loan) 11 (9)
2016–2017 → Twente (loan) 32 (18)
2017–2020 Villarreal 23 (5)
2017 → Levante (loan) 7 (1)
2018–2020 → Valladolid (loan) 68 (12)
2020– Getafe 103 (34)
2024– → Bournemouth (loan) 8 (1)
International career‡
2012–2013 Turkey U16 24 (25)
2012–2014 Turkey U17 12 (9)
2014 Turkey U19 6 (6)
2013–2015 Turkey U21 13 (3)
2015– Turkey 33 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:42, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 March 2024

Enes Ünal (born 10 May 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Bournemouth, on loan from La Liga club Getafe, and the Turkey national team.

Ünal scored on his Süper Lig debut on 25 August 2013 for Bursaspor against Galatasaray, making him the youngest player to net in Turkey's top division. An international at several youth levels, he earned his first senior cap on 31 March 2015 in a friendly against Luxembourg.

Early life

Ünal was born in Osmangazi, Bursa, on 10 May 1997.[3] His father, Mesut Ünal, was also a professional footballer who also played for Bursaspor and was a youth international for Turkey.[4]

Club career

Bursaspor

Ünal was promoted from the Bursaspor youth team. He made his professional debut against FK Vojvodina in the first leg of third qualifying round of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League on 1 August 2013, replacing Sebastián Pinto for the last five minutes of a 2–2 draw at Karađorđe.[5]

On 25 August 2013, Ünal came off the bench for Ferhat Kiraz in the 71st minute to make his debut against Galatasaray, and scored his first league goal three minutes later with the assist by Pablo Batalla. This goal made him the youngest player to score in the Süper Lig. On 21 October, he scored his second league goal against Kayserispor with the assist by Şener Özbayraklı. On 19 December 2013, he came off the bench for Musa Çağıran in the 80th minute in the Turkish Cup game against İnegölspor, and scored Bursaspor's second goal via a free kick two minutes later, netting the third in the 86th minute. On 12 February 2014, he scored the third goal for Bursaspor against Akhisar Belediyespor in the cup group stages. They finished first in the group stage with 13 points and advanced to the semi-finals to face Galatasaray.

Manchester City

On 7 July 2015, English Premier League club Manchester City announced Ünal's signing for a reported fee of £2 million, their first purchase of the summer.[6] He made his debut against Adelaide United on a tour of Australia, in a 2–0 win.[7]

On 31 July 2015, Manchester City announced that Ünal would be going out on loan to Belgian Pro League side Genk for two seasons.[8] On 29 January 2016, his agreement was cancelled, and he returned to Manchester City.

On 1 February 2016, Ünal was loaned to Dutch club NAC Breda until end of the season; eighteen days later he scored on his debut against Fortuna Sittard.[9] He scored his first career hat-trick on 11 April 2016 in a game against SC Telstar.[10]

On 23 July 2016, Ünal was loaned to Dutch club FC Twente for the 2016–17 season.[11] On 21 August, he made his first start, scoring his second career hat-trick.[12] He scored two more goals in his next game for the club, a 4–1 win over ADO Den Haag.[13]

Villarreal

On 30 May 2017, Ünal joined La Liga side Villarreal for £12 million with a buy back option for Manchester City.[14] He made his debut in the season opener, a 1–0 loss to Levante on 21 August.[15] His first goal came on 10 September in a 3–1 win over Real Betis.[16]

On 30 October 2017, Ünal joined Levante on an emergency loan deal until June 2018, with the option of a call back in January.[17] He scored on his debut against Girona, on 5 November 2017, though the match ended in a 2–1 loss.[18]

On 26 December 2017, Villarreal exercised the call back option and Ünal rejoined the club three days later.[19] The following 19 August, he joined newly-promoted side Real Valladolid on a one-year loan deal.[20] In 2019 July, his loan contract was extended until the end of 2019–20 season.[21]

Getafe

On 12 August 2020, Getafe announced the signing of Ünal from Villarreal on a five-year contract.[22]

Bournemouth

On 1 February 2024, Premier League club Bournemouth signed Ünal on a loan deal, with the obligation to make the move permanent if certain conditions are met.[23] He scored his first goal for the club on 9 March, a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw at home to Sheffield United.[24] In the Cherries' following match against Luton Town, Ünal set up Antoine Semenyo's winning goal as Bournemouth came from 0–3 down to win 4–3.[25] In doing so, they became only the fifth team in Premier League history to overturn a 3–0 deficit.[25]

International career

After scoring 25 goals in 24 games for the Turkey U16 side,[6] he was quickly promoted to the U17s, and after scoring his first professional goal in 2013 was invited to join the Turkey U21 side, despite being just 16 years old. He scored his first U21 goal in 4–0 win against Malta.[26]

Ünal earned his first international cap at senior level on 31 March 2015, replacing Olcay Şahan in the 57th minute of a 2–1 friendly victory against Luxembourg at the Stade Josy Barthel.[27][28][29] His second cap wouldn't come for over a year, appearing as a substitute in a friendly against Russia on 31 August 2016.[30]

On 30 September 2016, Ünal was called up for 2018 World Cup qualification matches against Ukraine and Iceland.[31] He made his first start and competitive debut for Turkey against Ukraine, on 6 October, in a 2–2 draw.[32] On 17 November 2019, Ünal scored his first two goals for Turkey in a 2–0 win against Andorra, during the UEFA Euro 2020 qualification.[33]

Personal life

Ünal's family became Manchester City fans after Sergio Agüero's 94th minute Premier League title winner in 2012.[34]

Ünal had been dating Lisa Smellers, a Belgian footballer who plays for KRC Genk Ladies.[35] The couple got married in December 2019.[36] Their daughter, Lila Ela, was born in 2020.[3]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 April 2024[37][38]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bursaspor 2013–14[39] Süper Lig 16 3 5 3 — 2 0 — 23 6
2014–15[40] 19 1 10 0 — 2 0 — 31 1
Total 35 4 15 3 — 4 0 — 54 7
Manchester City 2015–16[41] Premier League 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 — 0 0
Genk (loan) 2015–16[41] Belgian Pro League 12 1 2 1 — 0 0 — 14 2
NAC Breda (loan) 2015–16 Eerste Divisie 11 8 0 0 — — 3[b] 0 14 8
Twente (loan) 2016–17[42] Eredivisie 32 18 1 1 — — — 33 19
Villarreal 2017–18[43] La Liga 23 5 3 0 — 5[c] 0 — 31 5
Levante (loan) 2017–18[43] La Liga 7 1 0 0 — — — 7 1
Valladolid (loan) 2018–19[44] La Liga 33 6 1 0 — — — 34 6
2019–20[45] 35 6 2 2 — — — 37 8
Total 68 12 3 2 — — — 71 14
Getafe 2020–21[46] La Liga 28 4 1 1 — — — 29 5
2021–22[47] 37 16 0 0 — — — 37 16
2022–23[48] 35 14 3 1 — — — 38 15
2023–24[49] 3 0 2 0 — — — 5 0
Total 103 34 6 2 — — — 109 36
Bournemouth (loan) 2023–24[50] Premier League 8 1 1 0 — — — 9 1
Career total 297 84 29 9 0 0 9 0 3 0 339 93
  1. ^ Includes Turkish Cup, Belgian Cup, KNVB Cup, Copa del Rey, FA Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in Eerste Divisie promotion play-offs
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 22 March 2024[51]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Turkey 2015 1 0
2016 2 0
2017 4 0
2018 4 0
2019 2 2
2020 4 0
2021 7 0
2022 6 1
2023 2 0
2024 1 0
Total 33 3
As of match played 19 November 2022.
Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ünal goal.
List of international goals scored by Enes Ünal
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 November 2019 Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra 13  Andorra 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2 2–0
3 19 November 2022 Gaziantep Stadium, Gaziantep, Turkey 30  Czech Republic 1–0 2–1 Friendly

References

  1. ^ "Acta del Partido celebrado el 29 de agosto de 2021, en Cádiz" [Minutes of the Match held on 29 August 2021, in Cádiz] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Enes Ünal: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Enes Ünal kimdir? İşte merak edilenler". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 25 March 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Bursaspor wonder kid Enes Ünal sets Turkey's youngest goal scoring record". Hürriyet Daily News.
  5. ^ "Voijvodina 2–2 Bursaspor" (in Turkish). UEFA. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  6. ^ a b Luckhurst, Samuel (6 July 2015). "Manchester City transfer news: Enes Unal signs for Blues". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Barker nets in comfortable win over Adelaide". Manchester City F.C. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Manchester City striker Enes Unal joins Genk on loan". 31 July 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  9. ^ "NAC Breda vs Fortuna Sittard match summary". espnfc.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  10. ^ "THE GOALS OF THE WEEK: ENES ÜNAL, SERGE GNABRY, AND KHALID ABDO". Vice Sports. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Ünal joins FC Twente on loan". turkish-football.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Man City youngster scores hat-trick on debut, becomes first Turkish player to score Eredivisie hat-trick". turkish-football.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Enes Unal scores twice as FC Twente see of Den Haag". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  14. ^ Sarigul, Emre (31 May 2017). "Villarreal land Enes Unal for £12m from Manchester City". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  15. ^ "Enes Ünal lost to Villarreal in his first game at La Liga!". Fanatik (in Turkish). 22 August 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  16. ^ Sarigul, Eren (11 September 2017). "Turks Abroad: Arsenal star returns to form, Enes Unal scores first goal since leaving Man City". Turkish-Football. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  17. ^ "El Levante llega a un acuerdo con el Villarreal para la cesión de Enes Ünal". Marca (in Spanish). 30 October 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  18. ^ "El Girona mantiene su racha ante el Levante". El País. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Enes Unal returns to Villarreal after just two months". Marca. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Enes Unal, más madera para el ataque" [Enes Unal, more power to the attack] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  21. ^ "Enes Ünal Valladolid'de Kaldı!" (in Turkish). NTV Spor. 5 July 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  22. ^ "Primer fichaje azulón, Enes Ünal" (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Ünal arrives at the Cherries". AFC Bournemouth. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Bournemouth 2-2 Sheffield United". BBC. 9 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Bournemouth 4-3 Luton Town". BBC. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  26. ^ "Turkey ease to four-goal Malta victory". UEFA (in Turkish). 5 September 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  27. ^ "Lüksemburg 1 – 2 Türkiye". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 1 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  28. ^ "Lüksemburg Türkiye maç sonucu: 1–2". Milliyet (in Turkish). 31 March 2015.
  29. ^ Benson, Ryan (31 March 2015). "Luxembourg 1–2 Turkey: Calhanoglu stakes claim with late winner". Goal.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  30. ^ "TURKEY 0–0 RUSSIA". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  31. ^ "Turkish A National Team Squad Announced for Ukraine and Iceland Matches". tff.org. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  32. ^ "TURKEY 2–2 UKRAINE". tff.org. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  33. ^ "Enes Ünal Milli Takım'da siftah yaptı". mackolik.com (in Turkish). 17 November 2019.
  34. ^ Luckhurst, Samuel (27 June 2015). "Manchester City transfers: Enes Unal's family are MCFC fans". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  35. ^ "Enes Ünal'ın sevgilisi de futbolcu". posta.com (in Turkish). 21 June 2017.
  36. ^ "Enes Ünal, Lisa Smellers ile evlendi". Mynet. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  37. ^ "Enes Ünal » Club matches". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  38. ^ "E. Ünal". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  39. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  40. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  41. ^ a b "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  42. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  43. ^ a b "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  44. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  45. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  46. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  47. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  48. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  49. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  50. ^ "Games played by Enes Ünal in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  51. ^ "Ünal, Enes". National Football Teams. Retrieved 5 October 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Enes Ünal.
  • Profile at the Getafe CF website
  • Enes Ünal at the Turkish Football Federation
  • Enes Ünal – UEFA competition record (archive)
  • Enes Ünal at Soccerway
  • Enes Ünal at Soccerbase
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AFC Bournemouth – current squad
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Turkey squad – UEFA Euro 2020
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