Burak Yılmaz

Burak Yılmaz — Biography

Born on 15 July 1985 in Antalya, Burak Yılmaz is the son of former Antalyaspor goalkeeper Fikret Yılmaz and began his own playing career at his hometown club. Signed by Beşiktaş ahead of the 2006-07 season, the forward moved on through a brief spell at Manisaspor to Fenerbahçe, then had a loan year at Eskişehirspor before his transfer to Trabzonspor in the winter of 2009-10 season, where he broke through under coach Şenol Güneş and finished the 2011-12 campaign as Süper Lig top scorer with 33 goals.

After three seasons at Trabzonspor, Yılmaz moved to Galatasaray, where he won two Süper Lig titles (2012-13 and 2014-15) and a second scoring title in 2012-13, becoming, alongside Sergen Yalçın, one of only two players to have turned out for all four of Turkey's biggest clubs - Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor. He later spent two seasons with Beijing Guoan in China, returned to Trabzonspor and then Beşiktaş, and in 2020 joined France's Lille, helping the club win its first league title in a decade; a goal against Chelsea made him, at 36 years and 244 days, the third-oldest scorer in Champions League history behind Paolo Maldini and Ryan Giggs. Capped by Turkey from 2006 to 2022, he retired with 31 international goals, second on the country's all-time scoring list behind Hakan Şükür.

Once his playing days ended, Yılmaz moved into coaching, starting out as an assistant to Şenol Güneş at Beşiktaş before taking over as head coach of Süper Lig side Gaziantep FK. In April 2026 he resigned following a match, parting ways with the club, and was subsequently referred to the Turkish Football Federation's disciplinary board and handed a two-match ban.