Naci Ünüvar

Naci Ünüvar — Biography

Naci Ünüvar is a Dutch-born winger and attacking midfielder of Turkish descent who came through the Ajax academy. At 1.61 m he stands out for his dribbling and one-on-one play. He is the youngest player to score on his official debut for Ajax and was named in The Guardian's "Next Generation 2020". He is under contract at Twente and spent the second half of 2025-26 on loan at Heracles Almelo.

Born in Zaandam, he joined the Ajax academy at eight in 2011. In 2018 he was named player of the ABN AMRO Future Cup, and at the end of 2018-19 he received the club's Abdelhak Nouri Trophy. With the Netherlands U17 he won the 2019 European Championship, scoring in the final against Italy. He debuted for Jong Ajax in December 2019, and in January 2020 he scored a penalty against SV Spakenburg in the KNVB Cup aged 16 years and 223 days, setting the record. Over four seasons at Jong Ajax he scored 24 goals in 73 Eerste Divisie matches. With first-team chances scarce he went on loan: Trabzonspor in 2022-23 (three goals in 12 matches), Twente in 2023-24 (four in 25) and Espanyol in 2024-25.

In January 2025 he and Ajax parted by mutual agreement and he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Twente. In 2023 he chose to represent Turkey and made his U21 debut on 27 March 2023. His younger brother Emre Ünüvar is also a footballer.