Hakan Özmert

Hakan Özmert — Biography

Hakan Özmert was born on June 3, 1985, in Nantes, France, and began playing football in Nantes's youth academy. When his family returned to Turkey and settled in Sakarya, he moved into the youth ranks of Akyazıspor and then Sakaryaspor, signing a professional contract in 2003 and making his first-team debut against Yozgatspor on May 25, 2003. With Sakaryaspor he was part of the squad that won the 1. Lig title in 2003-04 and later earned promotion to the Süper Lig via the play-offs in 2005-06.

He was loaned to Karşıyaka in 2005 and moved permanently to Antalyaspor in July 2007, helping the club finish runner-up in the 1. Lig and gain promotion to the Süper Lig in 2007-08. He transferred to Kardemir Karabükspor in 2010-11 and became one of the team's key players; a reported move to Bursaspor in 2011 fell through, and he signed a two-year contract with Orduspor instead, before his contract there was terminated ahead of the 2012-13 season and he moved to Kasımpaşa.

He returned to Karabükspor in 2013 and scored the club's first-ever goal in European competition in a 1-1 UEFA Europa League return leg against Rosenborg, helping the team advance to the next round. He went on to play for Sivasspor from 2015, İstanbul Başakşehir from 2016, and Antalyaspor again from 2018, where he rose to team captain before parting ways with the club in February 2023. He then played for Bodrumspor and Sarıyer. Though born in France, Özmert has represented Turkey's U16, U18 and U19 national teams.