Özgür Özkaya

Özgür Özkaya — Biography

Özgür Özkaya is a left-back who has spent most of his career with İzmir club Altay and has also served as the team's captain. In February 2026 he played his 400th official match in an Altay shirt, and the press has at times described him as one of the club's steadiest figures.

He started out in the Beşiktaş academy, with a single year at İstanbul Gençlerbirliği, and moved up to the Beşiktaş reserve side in 2005-06. His professional path was shaped by loans. In the second half of 2007-08 he went to Zeytinburnuspor in the third tier, making his first official appearance on February 13, 2008, against Güngören Belediyespor, and then played for Fatih Karagümrük. He spent two seasons at Beylerbeyi, scoring his first goals there, and his 12 goals helped the team reach the play-offs. Loaned to Şanlıurfaspor in 2011-12, he won the 2. Lig White Group and went up to the 1. Lig, and the club borrowed him again the next season.

When his Beşiktaş contract ended before 2013-14 he joined Süper Lig side Elazığspor. He made his top-flight debut on August 18, 2013, in a 3-1 defeat to Akhisar Belediyespor and scored his first goal on August 31 in a 3-1 win over Kayserispor. In later years he became Altay's captain, spoke openly in 2020 of the team's Süper Lig ambition, and agreed new terms with the club in the summers of 2022 and 2023.