Cenk Tosun (; born 7 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Kasñmpaà Âa 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 Beà Âiktaà  and won two Süper Lig titles before transferring to Everton in January 2018 for a reported ã27 million transfer fee. After loans to fellow Premier League team Crystal Palace and back to Beà Âiktaà Â, 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 and Euro 2024.
Born in Wetzlar in the German state of Hesse, Tosun began his career with Eintracht Frankfurt. He played mainly for the reserves in the Regionalliga. His sole first team appearance was on 8 May 2010 in the final match of the 2009âÂÂ10 Bundesliga season as a 75th-minute substitute for Martin Fenin in a 3âÂÂ1 loss at VfL Wolfsburg.
On 29 January 2011, Tosun joined Gaziantepspor for a â¬400,000 transfer fee. He scored 10 goals in 14 league matches in his debut season. After a less successful second season, he scored double digits in the following two campaigns and helped the club win the Spor Toto Cup in 2012. He scored twice in the final, a 3âÂÂ1 win over Orduspor on 17 May 2012.
On 4 February 2014, Beà Âiktaà  signed Tosun on a five-year contract worth nearly â¬500,000, effective from the 2014âÂÂ15 season. He chose the number 23 shirt after basketball player Michael Jordan. In his first two campaigns at the Istanbul club, he was mainly a substitute, behind Demba Ba and Mario Gómez in the pecking order. After Ba and Gómez left, he was a regular in the 2016âÂÂ17 season, scoring 24 goals as his club won the Süper Lig title. He then turned down a move to Premier League club Crystal Palace.
In 2017âÂÂ18, Tosun scored four goals in six matches as Beà Âiktaà  won a UEFA Champions League group containing RB Leipzig, Porto and Monaco, including both of a 2âÂÂ1 win at Monaco on 17 October.
On 5 January 2018, Tosun joined Premier League club Everton for a reported ã27 million transfer fee, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Merseyside club. He made his debut eight days later, playing 61 minutes of a 4âÂÂ0 loss away to Tottenham Hotspur. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2âÂÂ1 away loss against Burnley on 3 March. Manager Sam Allardyce praised Tosun when he received criticism for the start of his Everton career. Tosun and fellow new signing Theo Walcott helped an Everton side that had struggled for goals in the first half of the season as the club finished in eighth place in the 2017âÂÂ18 Premier League.
Under new manager Marco Silva, Tosun lost his starting place to Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Moise Kean. However, he stayed at the club for the 2019âÂÂ20 season after rejecting moves to Galatasaray S.K. and Qatar's Al-Gharafa SC.
Tosun moved on loan to Crystal Palace for the rest of the 2019âÂÂ20 season on 10 January 2020. He made his debut the next day against Arsenal when he came on for Max Meyer in the 68th minute of the 1âÂÂ1 home draw. In his next game, a first start on 18 January, he scored in a 2âÂÂ2 draw away to reigning champions Manchester City.
In March, Tosun was sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury picked up during training. He returned to Everton for rehabilitation once surgery had been completed.
On 31 January 2021, Tosun returned to Beà Âiktaà  on a loan deal until the end of the season. On his league debut on 15 February, he came on as a 62nd-minute replacement for Vincent Aboubakar and scored twice in a 3âÂÂ0 win at GençlerbirliÃÂi. He subsequently suffered another knee injury and was diagnosed with COVID-19.
On 10 June 2022, Everton stated Tosun would be released at the end of the month once his contract expired. On 2 July 2022, Tosun signed with Beà Âiktaà  for a third stint with the club. In his first full season back at the club, he scored 15 goals in 32 games, sixth best in the league and second best for Turkish players after Umut Nayir's 17 for ÃÂmraniyespor; this included two on 2 April in a 4âÂÂ2 win at Istanbul rivals Fenerbahçe.
On 16 July 2024, Tosun signed a two-year contract with Fenerbahçe, the cross-town rivals of his old club, on a free transfer after his contract with Beà Âiktaà  was expired and not renewed.
On 19 January 2025, he made his first official goal in a 0-4 Süper Lig away victory against Adana Demirspor.
On 15 January 2026, Fenerbahçe announced that his contract was terminated by mutual agreement.
On 16 January 2026, Tosun joined Kasñmpaà Âa.
Tosun played for Germany under-19 in qualification for the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. In the qualifying group in Luxembourg, he scored twice in a 5âÂÂ0 win over Moldova and a consolation goal in a 2âÂÂ1 loss to Turkey. He scored a hat-trick in a 4âÂÂ1 win over Poland in the Elite Round, but Germany did not advance to the finals in France.
On 16 November 2010, Tosun made his under-21 debut in a 2âÂÂ0 friendly win over England in Wiesbaden, scoring a penalty for the second goal.
Tosun made his senior international debut for Turkey on 15 October 2013, replacing Selçuk ðnan for the final 16 minutes of a 2âÂÂ0 loss to the Netherlands in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match at the à Âükrü SaracoÃÂlu 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 2âÂÂ1 friendly triumph away to Qatar. He added another two goals on 24 March 2016 in a 2âÂÂ1 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 1âÂÂ0 loss to Croatia, but was dropped in favour of Burak Yñlmaz for the following match against Spain. Tosun then returned as an added-time substitute in the 2âÂÂ0 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 2âÂÂ2 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 4âÂÂ0 wins over Moldova. He missed the final tournament â delayed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic â due to injury.
On 7 June 2024, he was selected in the 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024. On 26 June, he scored a stoppage-time goal in a 2âÂÂ1 victory over Czech Republic in the last group stage match, securing his country's qualification to the knockout phase for the first time since 2008.
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 Gómez and Zlatan IbrahimoviÃÂ, The Times writer Gary Jacob instead found him more similar to the English strikers Kevin Davies and Andy Carroll for his physicality.
On 11 October 2019, Tosun scored in the 90th minute of a 1âÂÂ0 home win over Albania in a Euro 2020 qualifier, and was one of the Turkish players who participated in a "military salute" goal celebration. That same day, he published a photograph on Instagram in which he stated support for soldiers involved in the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria.
Beà Âiktaà Â
Individual