Cengiz Ünder

Cengiz Ünder — Biography

Cengiz Ünder is a Turkish winger born on July 14, 1997, in the Sındırgı district of Balıkesir. He began playing football in Izmir with the Bucaspor and Altınordu youth academies, turned professional in 2014, and spent two seasons with Altınordu in the Turkish second tier.

A 2016 move to İstanbul Başakşehir was followed, after a single standout season, by a €15 million transfer to Italian side Roma. Named Turkey's Footballer of the Year in 2018, he spent three seasons in Rome before loan spells at Leicester City — where he won the FA Cup — and Marseille, joining the French club permanently for €11.4 million in 2022. A season later he returned to Turkey in a record €15 million deal with Fenerbahçe, before a further loan to Los Angeles FC in early 2025 and, later that year, a loan with a purchase option to Beşiktaş.

Ünder has earned more than 50 caps and scored 16 goals for the Turkish national team since his 2016 debut, appearing at UEFA Euro 2020, though injuries kept him out of the Euro 2024 squad.