Enes Ünal (born 10 May 1997) is a Turkish 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 lea ...

who plays as a forward for club

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

and the Turkey national team. Ünal scored on his

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

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 Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Early life

Ünal was born in

Osmangazi Osmangazi is a municipality and district of Bursa Province, Turkey. Its area is 621 km2, and its population is 891,250 (2022). It is one of the central metropolitan districts of the city of Bursa, as well as the fourth largest overall muni ...

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

, on 10 May 1997. His father, Mesut Ünal, was also a professional footballer who also played for Bursaspor and was a youth international for Turkey.

Club career

Bursaspor

Ünal was promoted from the Bursaspor youth team. He made his professional debut against

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

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. 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 Pablo Martín Batalla (; born January 16, 1984), is an Argentine football midfielder who manage Nilüfer Belediyespor in Bursa, Turkey. Career Batalla started his career with Vélez Sársfield in 2003, he has had two spells with the club, a ...

. This goal made him the youngest player to score in the

. On 21 October, he scored his second league goal against

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

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 The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

game against

İnegölspor İnegölspor is a Turkish sports club located in İnegöl, Bursa Province Bursa Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in Turkey along the Sea of Marmara coast in ...

, 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 The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

announced Ünal's signing for a reported fee of £2 million, their first purchase of the summer. He made his debut against Adelaide United on a tour of Australia, in a 2–0 win. On 31 July 2015, Manchester City announced that Ünal would be going out on loan to

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

side

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

for two seasons. 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. He scored his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on 11 April 2016 in a game against

Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...

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

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

Villarreal

On 30 May 2017, Ünal joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side Villarreal for £12 million with a buy back option for Manchester City. He made his debut in the season opener, a 1–0 loss to Levante on 21 August. His first goal came on 10 September in a 3–1 win over

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

. On 30 October 2017, Ünal joined Levante on an emergency loan deal until June 2018, with the option of a call back in January. He scored on his debut against

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, on 5 November 2017, though the match ended in a 2–1 loss. On 26 December 2017, Villarreal exercised the call back option and Ünal rejoined the club three days later. The following 19 August, he joined newly-promoted side

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

on a one-year loan deal. In 2019 July, his loan contract was extended until the end of 2019–20 season.

Getafe

On 12 August 2020,

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

announced the signing of Ünal from Villarreal on a five-year contract.

AFC Bournemouth

On 1 February 2024,

club

signed Ünal on a loan deal, with the obligation to make the move permanent if certain conditions are met. He scored his first goal for the club on 9 March, a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw at home against Sheffield United. In the Cherries' following match against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

, Ünal set up Antoine Semenyo's winning goal as Bournemouth came from 0–3 down to win 4–3. In doing so, they became only the fifth team in Premier League history to overturn a 3–0 deficit. On 29 May 2024, the club announced that he had signed a four-year contract. In January 2025, Ünal suffered his second ACL injury in training, after a previous tear at Getafe, which would force him to miss the rest of the season following surgery.

International career

After scoring 25 goals in 24 games for the Turkey U16 side, 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 Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. Ünal earned his first international cap at senior level on 31 March 2015, replacing

Olcay Şahan Olcay Şahan (, born 26 May 1987) is a Turkish professional Association football, football manager and a former player who played as a winger (association football), winger or as an attacking midfielder. Born in Germany, he played for the Turkey ...

in the 57th minute of a 2–1 friendly victory against

at the Stade Josy Barthel. His second cap wouldn't come for over a year, appearing as a substitute in a friendly against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

on 31 August 2016. On 30 September 2016, Ünal was called up for 2018 World Cup qualification matches against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. He made his first start and competitive debut for Turkey against Ukraine, on 6 October, in a 2–2 draw. On 17 November 2019, Ünal scored his first two goals for Turkey in a 2–0 win against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

, during the UEFA Euro 2020 qualification. On 1 June 2021, he was selected in the 26-man squad for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

. On 24 May 2024, he was named in the 35-man preliminary squad for UEFA Euro 2024. However, on 1 June, he was withdrawn due to injury.

Personal life

Ünal's family became Manchester City fans after

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

's 94th-minute Premier League title-winning goal in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. Ünal had been dating Lisa Smellers, a Belgian footballer who plays for Genk Ladies. The couple were married in December 2019. Their daughter, Lila Ela, was born in 2020.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ünal goal.''

References

External links

Enes Ünal
at

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

(archived)
Enes Ünal
at

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Unal, Enes 1997 births Living people Footballers from Osmangazi Turkish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Turkey men's international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players Süper Lig players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players La Liga players Premier League players Bursaspor footballers Manchester City F.C. players K.R.C. Genk players NAC Breda players Villarreal CF players Levante UD footballers Real Valladolid players Getafe CF footballers AFC Bournemouth players Turkish expatriate men's footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century Turkish sportsmen