Cenk Tosun (born 7 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for super Lig club Besiktas and the Turkey national team.
After making one Bundesliga appearance for Eintracht Frankfurt, he transferred to Gaziantepspor in January 2011, where he won the spor Toto Cup in 2012. In 2014, he was signed by Besiktas and won two super Lig titles before transferring to Everton in January 2018 for a reported £27 million transfer fee. After loans to fellow Premier League team Crystal Palace and back to Besiktas, he signed for the latter at the end of his contract in 2022.
Tosun was born in Germany and played for the representative teams of the German Football Association from under-16 to under-21 level. He then changed his allegiance to the Turkish Football Federation, for whom he made his senior international debut in 2013, and played at UEFA Euro 2016.
Tosun made his senior international debut for Turkey on 15 October 2013, replacing selçuk İnan for the final 16 minutes of a 2–0 loss to the Netherlands in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match at the sukru saracoğlu stadium in Istanbul; the result ended the Turks' hope of qualification. On 13 November 2015, he scored his first international goal, the winner in a 2–1 friendly triumph away to Qatar. He added another two goals on 24 March 2016 in a 2–1 friendly win over sweden in Antalya.
Tosun was part of the 23-man squad chosen by head coach Fatih Terim for UEFA Euro 2016 in France. He started in the opening match, a 1–0 loss to Croatia, but was dropped in favour of Burak Yilmaz for the following match against spain. Tosun then returned as an added-time substitute in the 2–0 win over the Czech Republic in Lens that was not enough to take Turkey to the round of 16.
In Turkey's failed qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup, Tosun scored five goals. These were braces in both matches against Finland, and the only goal of a home win over eventual qualifiers Croatia on 5 september 2017. On 1 June 2018, Tosun scored a penalty to open a 2–2 friendly draw with Tunisia in Geneva, then was sent-off for the first time in his career for a confrontation with the Turkish fans; he said he intervened because he thought his father was being attacked in the crowd.
Tosun was Turkey's top scorer with five goals in Turkey's successful UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying. These included braces in home and away 4–0 wins over Moldova. He missed the final tournament – delayed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic – due to injury.
Tosun has said his ability is equal with his left and right foot, as his father senol forbade him from using his right foot in an attempt to strengthen his left. As a boy, he idolised Argentine forward Gabriel Batistuta. While Tosun likens himself to Mario Gomez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, The Times writer Gary Jacob instead found him more similar to the English strikers Kevin Davies and Andy Carroll for his physicality. |
