Erol Erdal Alkan

Erol Erdal Alkan — Biography

Erol Erdal Alkan is a centre-back born in the Netherlands to a Turkish father and a mother of Surinamese descent, who chose to represent Turkey. He became widely known in November 2017, when Mircea Lucescu's call-up of him to the senior national squad set off a broad debate; his career has taken him through the Netherlands, Turkey, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland and Belgium.

He began playing in Amsterdam at five, moved from AVV Zeeburgia to the Ajax academy and later spent time at Heerenveen and AFC Amsterdam. In 2012 he joined the youth setup of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor and then Elazığspor, and made his Süper Lig debut on 26 January 2014. He scored his first goal in the Turkish Cup against Tokatspor, stayed briefly at Kocaeli Birlik and made 17 appearances in a season and a half at Hatayspor before returning to the Netherlands with FC Dordrecht in 2016-17. In 2018 he joined Bulgaria's Beroe, leaving by mutual consent in January 2020; he had a trial at Wycombe Wanderers but was not offered a contract. In July 2020 he signed for Türkgücü München, newly promoted to the 3. Liga, in January 2022 for Finn Harps in Ireland, and in July of that year for FC Esperanza Pelt in Belgium.

He played three times for the Turkey under-21 side in 2016, his debut coming against the Netherlands, the country of his birth. After the 2017 call-up Alkan said he had read what was written about him, and in a 2020 interview he said "My country is Turkey".