Berk İsmail Ünsal

Berk İsmail Ünsal — Biography

Berk İsmail Ünsal is a striker who came through Gaziosmanpaşaspor's youth system to Galatasaray and has been noted for his scoring since his teens. He won the Turkish Cup with Galatasaray in 2013-14, went on to play for a string of other clubs, and returned to Sakaryaspor in July 2026; he is known by the nickname "Makine" (machine).

He began playing in Gaziosmanpaşa with his school team, was top scorer at the 2002-03 school tournaments and, at nine, joined Gaziosmanpaşaspor's academy. With that team he beat Trabzonspor on penalties in the U-15 national championship and won the U-16 title the following year. Twelve goals in nine U-18 games in 2010-11 drew Galatasaray's attention, and his transfer was announced on January 4, 2011. With the Galatasaray U-18s he finished third in the regional youth finals and scored his first goal against Yeni Malatyaspor. He scored 12 goals in 27 games for Galatasaray A2 in 2011-12, had his contract extended to 2017 and played in first-team friendlies alongside Johan Elmander and Milan Baroš under Fatih Terim. His Süper Lig debut came on March 29, 2014, as a substitute for Umut Bulut against Konyaspor, and in his second game, against Kasımpaşa, he started. He also played for Turkey at under-17, under-19 and under-20 level.

After Galatasaray he played for Antalyaspor, Giresunspor, Gümüşhanespor and Bodrumspor, and scored 19 goals in 34 games for Amedspor. In July 2025 he signed a one-year contract with Şanlıurfaspor, and then returned to Sakaryaspor, where the club greeted him with the words "Makine yeniden aramızda" (the machine is back among us).