Özgür Aktaş

Özgür Aktaş — Biography

Özgür Aktaş is a center-back of Turkish descent who was born and raised in the Netherlands. After a path from Dutch youth football to the Eerste Divisie he moved to Ankaragücü in February 2025. He holds both Dutch and Turkish citizenship and is eligible to play for either national team.

He started at JVC Cuijk in Cuijk, joined Vitesse's academy in 2012 and moved to NEC's academy in 2015. In March 2017 head coach Peter Hyballa promoted him to the NEC first team, and he sat on the bench for an Eredivisie match without playing. In 2018 he returned to Vitesse and began his professional career with Jong Vitesse, scoring four goals in 28 Tweede Divisie appearances. He joined the first-team squad in September 2019 and made his first official appearance for Vitesse on December 17, 2019, in the KNVB Cup against ODIN '59. His contract expired in the summer of 2020.

In August 2020 he signed for Fortuna Sittard and was sent on a season-long loan to Dordrecht. He joined Telstar in August 2021 and on September 17 scored the only goal in an away win against his former club Dordrecht. On July 14, 2023, he signed a two-year deal with MVV; he started in a 3-1 win over VVV-Venlo on the first matchday and headed the club's first goal of his spell on November 6 in a 1-1 draw with Emmen. At Ankaragücü he plays in the back line in the TFF 2. Lig.