Alim Öztürk (born 17 November 1992) is a professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
Samsunspor
Samsunspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Samsun. The club was formed through a merger of five clubs: 19 Mayıs, Akınspor, Fener Gençlik, Samsunspor, and Samsunspor Galatasaray.SC Cambuur
SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 Ee ...
,
Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...
,
1461 Trabzon
1461 Trabzon is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1998 as Değirmenderespor, the club changed its name to Trabzon Karadenizspor in 2008. The club colours are maroon, blue and white.
History
The club ...
Boluspor
Boluspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Bolu. The clubs plays in red and white kits, and have done so since their formation in 1965.Sunderland.
Career
Playing in Netherlands
Born in Alkmaar, Netherlands, to his Turkish parents, Öztürk grew up with three siblings and started playing football when he was nine years old and joining AFC '34 youth team. His parents kept distance from Öztürk playing football. He then joined FC Groningen. In 2011, Öztürk joined
Eerste Divisie
The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as t ...
side
SC Cambuur
SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 Ee ...
, where he quickly went through to the first team and made his Eerste Divisie debut for Cambuur on 22 January 2012.
Playing in Turkey
He moved to Turkish club
Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...
in 2013 for €125,000 on a three year contract, depending on the ongoing payment, but did not break into their first team.
After struggling to break into the first team, Öztürk was sent to join
1461 Trabzon
1461 Trabzon is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1998 as Değirmenderespor, the club changed its name to Trabzon Karadenizspor in 2008. The club colours are maroon, blue and white.
History
The club ...
on loan for the 2013–14 season. After a half season with the club, Öztürk left Trabzonspor by mutual consent. Öztürk later described playing in Turkey as difficult, citing more long balls, more fights and unsatisfied playing in the second division.
Heart of Midlothian
Öztürk moved to then
Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...
side Hearts in June 2014 on a three year contract.Hearts recruit Turkish defender Alim Ozturk BBC Sport Öztürk made his Hearts debut, playing in the centre-back along with Danny Wilson, in a 2–1 win over Rangers in the opening game of the season. On 26 October 2014, Öztürk scored his first goal for the club, a 40-yard screamer against Edinburgh rivalsHibernian. He also scored with long-range efforts against
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
,
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...
, and he scored a free-kick against Queen of the South. Alim Öztürk was the main free-kick taker at Hearts. With 33 appearances and scoring four times in his first season at Hearts, Öztürk was among six players to be named 2014–15 Championship's Team of the Year. Öztürk was also won Goal of the Season and Memorable Moment at the club's award ceremony.
Following the club's promotion to the Scottish Premiership and Wilson's departure, it was announced that Öztürk was appointed as the new captain at Hearts. He had previously spoke out of becoming the club's captain ahead of the 2015–16 season. Öztürk's first game as Hearts' captain came in the opening game of the season, in a 4–3 win over St Johnstone. On 21 September 2016, the captaincy was transferred to Perry Kitchen.
Boluspor
Öztürk returned to Turkish football in January 2017, signing an 18-month contract with
TFF First League
The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...
club
Boluspor
Boluspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Bolu. The clubs plays in red and white kits, and have done so since their formation in 1965.EFL League One club Sunderland announced the signing of Öztürk on a free transfer with a two-year contract.
Ozturk struggled to cement his place in the team and it was announced on 17 June 2020 that he would be leaving Sunderland, bringing to an end his two years at the club.
Ümraniyespor
On 26 August 2020, Öztürk joined
TFF First League
The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...
club
Ümraniyespor
Ümraniyespor is a Turkish professional football club located in Ümraniye, Istanbul.
The club plays in red and white kits, and have done so since their formation in 1938. They have secured promotion to Süper Lig for their first time 3 weeks b ...
.
Personal life
Öztürk speaks Dutch, Turkish and English. Öztürk was so popular with Hearts supporters that they named a beer after him.