Yusuf Kurtuluş

Yusuf Kurtuluş — Biography

Yusuf Kurtuluş is a former midfielder born in the Of district of Trabzon, who came up through the Trabzonspor academy. Because his build and style recalled the former Fenerbahçe player Ariel Ortega, he was known in football circles by the nickname "Ortega". He finished his career at the amateur club İnkılap SK.

He was part of the Trabzonspor youth side that won the 2003-04 reserve-league title, and then spent two seasons on loan at the TFF Second League club Darıca Gençlerbirliği to gain experience. He was called back to Trabzonspor for the 2007-08 pre-season camp, caught the eye of manager Ziya Doğan and stood out in the UEFA Intertoto Cup with his playmaking, scoring once. Even so, he made only one Süper Lig appearance for Trabzonspor. He had moved up to the first team in 2007. He was loaned to Konyaspor in February 2008, a short and unsuccessful spell, went back to Trabzonspor at the start of 2008-09 and was let go to Denizlispor at no cost, and on December 31, 2008, signed for Giresunspor in the second tier.

In the following years he moved around the lower divisions: back at Konyaspor in August 2009, at Kayseri Erciyesspor from 2010 and at Adana Demirspor in 2012. Altay İzmir, Osmanlıspor and Elazığspor are also among his clubs. His time at Orduspor ended in December 2014 when he and the club parted ways.