Mehmet Topuz (born 7 September 1983) is a Turkish former 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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

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 ...

and Fenerbahçe.

Club career

Topuz had begun his career in Yolspor, a local club located in

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

. He joined

in 2000. He has been given several Golden Man of the Month awards which are presented monthly and supported by Turkey Heart Foundation. His performance at

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 ...

attracted the major clubs of Turkey. However, Kayserispor Board strongly asserted that they would not let him go and supported their intentions to keep him in the club by advertising on

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s. Afterwards, he extended his contract with the club, eventually becoming the team captain. He was linked with Spanish side

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in May 2008. He played total of six games for Kayserispor in European competitions and scored two goals during their

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

campaign in the 2006 season, in which they became the first team from Turkey to win the competition. Kayserispor qualified for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and lost 4–3 on aggregate against AZ in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

. In 2007–08 season, he played two games in UEFA Cup qualification, in which Kayserispor lost against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

2–1 on aggregate. After playing five years for Kayserispor, he became one of the finest Turkish talents during his time and eventually moved to Turkish giants Fenerbahçe in 2009 for a fee of €9 million + Gökhan Emreciksin following a lengthy transfer battle with fellow rival giants

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

in which he wore the Beşiktaş jersey after agreeing terms with the club. However the transfer failed when Fenerbahçe secured the deal by arranging an agreement with his club Kayserispor, making him one of the most expensive internal Turkish transfers. Topuz scored his first goal against

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

in the first group game of

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

from a freekick at 71st minute. Although this game tied the score, Twente scored another goal six minutes later, and sealed a 2–1 win in Istanbul.

International career

Topuz played 22 times for Turkey U21 national team and scored 2 goals. He represented the senior national team 18 times.

Career statistics

International

Honours

;Kayserispor *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

* Türkiye Kupası: 2007–08 ;Fenerbahçe *

: 2010–11, 2013–14 * Türkiye Kupası: 2011–12, 2012–13 * Süper Kupa:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Topuz, Mehmet 1983 births Kayserispor footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Living people Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Süper Lig players Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders TFF 1. Lig players Sportspeople from Yozgat Province 21st-century Turkish sportsmen