Alpaslan Öztürk

Öztürk was born in Antwerp, Belgium,[1] and is of Turkish descent.[3] He was part of the youth system at Berchem Sport before joining Germinal Beerschot at the age of 12,[4] and then moved to England to join Birmingham City's Youth Academy in 2009. He played regularly in the under-18 and reserve teams, and in March 2011, was given a first-team squad number prior to the FA Cup sixth-round tie against Bolton Wanderers.[3] In the absence through injury of Stephen Carr and Roger Johnson, and with Liam Ridgewell not fit enough to start, Öztürk was named among the substitutes for that game, but remained unused.[5]

He was part of the Birmingham squad for their 2011 pre-season visit to Ireland, and played the second half of the friendly against Cork City.[6] In August 2011, he left the club. It was reported that no agreement could be reached between Birmingham and Beerschot on a mutually acceptable way to structure a compensation fee.[7]

Öztürk returned to Beerschot for the 2011–12 season.[8] Playing as a midfielder rather than the right back position he usually occupied at Birmingham,[3] he was an unused substitute for the first team's visit to Standard Liège in January 2012,[9] made his debut as Beerschot beat K.V. Kortrijk in the Belgian Cup,[10] and played the full 90 minutes on his first Belgian Pro League appearance as Beerschot beat Cercle Brugge 4–0 on 21 January.[11] In February, his contract was extended to June 2016.[12] Beerschot were relegated from the Pro League at the end of the 2012–13 season, and the club was subsequently declared bankrupt, which left the players out of contract.[13][14]

As a free agent, Öztürk signed a five-year contract with Standard Liège on 13 June 2013.[14][15] He made his Standard debut in the starting eleven against Lierse on 4 August, producing a calm, assured performance in his preferred position of defensive midfield.[16] Öztürk kept his place, and contributed to Standard's qualification for the Europa League group stages.

Öztürk spent the second half of the 2013–14 season on loan to Turkish Süper Lig club Kasımpaşa. He started one match, a goalless draw away to Kayserispor, and made nine substitute appearances.[17] In July, he rejoined Kasımpaşa, again on loan, for the 2014–15 season; the agreement included an option to make the transfer permanent.[18] He appeared in 23 Süper Lig matches that season, but the move was not made permanent.[17]

He joined another Süper Lig club, Eskişehirspor, on loan for the 2015–16 season; again, the deal included an option to purchase.[19] After making 15 league appearances, he was dropped from the squad in early March 2016 and never played again. In an interview with a Turkish website, Öztürk said he was training on his own and, with the club in financial difficulties, the players were not receiving their wages regularly.[17][20] He made it clear that he wanted to return to Standard, and even if Eskişehirspor took up their option, he had no interest in staying.[21]

Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Öztürk took part in pre-season training with Standard.[22]

He signed a three-year contract with Galatasaray in the 2021–22 season.[23][24]

He signed a one-year lease agreement with Eyüpspor on 30 June 2022.[25]

On August 29, 2023, he signed with Süper Lig club Pendikspor.[26]