Naci Ünüvar (born 13 June 2003) 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 lea ...

who plays as a winger or an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club

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 ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he is a youth international for Turkey. He was included in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

's "Next Generation 2020".

Club career

On 22 January 2020, Ünüvar played his first match with

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in the 2019–20 KNVB Cup, when he scored a penalty in a 7–0 win over

Spakenburg Spakenburg is a Netherlands, Dutch village north of Bunschoten. Spakenburg is formally called Bunschoten-Spakenburg since its fusion with Bunschoten. The village lies south of the IJsselmeer in the municipality Bunschoten, Utrecht province, Utrec ...

. Hence, he became the youngest player to score during his official debut for Ajax, at age 16 years, 223 days. On 30 August 2022, Ünüvar was loaned by Ajax to

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

in Turkey for the 2022–23 season. On 29 August 2024, after another loan spell at

, he moved to

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

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

also in a temporary deal. On 16 January 2025, Ajax and Ünüvar have mutually agreed to terminate the player's contract. On the same day, Ünüvar signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with

International career

Born in the Netherlands, Ünüvar is of Turkish descent. He is a former youth international for the Netherlands. In 2023, Ünüvar decided to represent the home country of his parents, Turkey, at international level.

Personal life

Naci is the older brother of Emre Ünüvar, who is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Honours

Netherlands U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * ABN AMRO Future Cup Best Player: 2018 * Abdelhak Nouri Trophy: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unuvar, Naci 2003 births Footballers from Zaanstad Living people Turkish men's footballers Dutch men's footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards OFC Oostzaan players AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players Trabzonspor footballers FC Twente players RCD Espanyol footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Süper Lig players La Liga players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch sportspeople of Turkish descent 21st-century Dutch sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen