Orkun Kokcu (born 29 December 2000) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Turkey national team.
A youth product of FC Groningen, where he arrived after having played for local clubs around his hometown Haarlem, Kokcu joined the Feyenoord youth academy in 2014. He made his debut for Feyenoord at the age of 17 in a 4–0 win over VV Gemert in the first round of the KNVB Cup on 17 September 2018, scoring Feyenoord's second goal. He made his Eredivisie debut against FC Emmen on 9 December 2018, and contributed with a goal and an assist after coming on as a substitute. On 10 April 2019, he extended his contract at Feyenoord until 2023. On 26 June 2020, he reached an agreement to extend his contract with Feyenoord for another two years, a deal to the end of the 2024–25 season.
Following Jens Toornstra's departure, Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot chose Kokcu as his club captain on 2 September 2022. With Kokcu as captain, Feyenoord went on to win the 2022–23 Eredivisie.
On 10 June 2023, Kokcu joined Benfica on a five-year deal for a reported fee of €25 million, plus €5 million in variables. The sum represented a record signing for the Portuguese club and the league surpassing Darwin Nunez transfer from Almeria to Benfica in 2020 for transfer fee of €24 million and a club record sale for Feyenoord becoming the club's biggest sale since Kokcu's former Feyenoord teammate Luis Sinisterra's transfer to Leeds United in 2022 for a fee of €25 million.
Kokcu made his debut for Benfica in the Supertaca Candido de Oliveira, starting in a 2–0 win over rivals FC Porto. He scored his first goal on 2 September, netting Benfica's third goal in a 4–0 home win over Vitoria de Guimaraes. Kokcu made his UEFA Champions League debut on 20 September, starting in a 2–0 home loss to Red Bull Salzburg.
Kokcu was a youth international for the Netherlands, having represented the Netherlands U18s, and Netherlands U19s. In July 2019 Kokcu announced the intent to play for the Turkey national team. He represented the Turkey U21s in a 3–2 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification loss to the England U21s on 6 September 2019.
He made his Turkey national team debut on 6 September 2020 in a Nations League game against Serbia, he started the game and played the first hour of the 0–0 away draw. |
