Murat Sözgelmez

Murat Sözgelmez — Biography

Murat Sözgelmez (born August 21, 1985, in İzmir) is a Turkish retired professional footballer who played as a center-back. He began playing football with the İzmir Youth and Sports provincial directorate before moving into Altay's youth system, signed a professional contract with that club in 2004 and was promoted to the first team, making his first official appearance on April 24, 2005, in a First League match against Türk Telekom. A season and a half later he transferred to Süper Lig side Sivasspor, where he spent four seasons, making 103 appearances and scoring five goals; during that spell, in week 16 of the 2009-10 season, he scored the club's 200th Süper Lig goal in a match against Eskişehirspor.

In the final week of the 2011-12 summer transfer window he moved to First League club Karşıyaka, only to mutually terminate his contract there in the middle of that same season. He transferred to Çaykur Rizespor in January 2012, then signed a one-year deal with newly-promoted First League club Balıkesirspor ahead of the 2013-14 season. He agreed to join Ankaragücü on August 13, 2015, and in 2018 returned to Balıkesirspor, where he ended his professional career. He was capped once for Turkey's B (A2) national team.

Known throughout his career for his consistent performances, Sözgelmez was named among Sivasspor's most reliable players in 2009 and extended his contract with the club by two years in May 2010.