Mustafa Saymak

Mustafa Saymak — Biography

Mustafa Saymak was born on 11 February 1993 in Deventer, Netherlands, to a family originally from Denizli, Turkey, who had emigrated to the Netherlands; standing 1.69 m, he plays as a winger or attacking midfielder and holds both Turkish and Dutch citizenship.

He took up football in the Netherlands at the age of six, joined PEC Zwolle's academy in the 2009-10 season, and signed a professional contract effective from July 2011. He made his second-tier league debut for the club in August 2011 and was part of the squad that won the title and promotion to the Eredivisie that season. By 2013-14 he had become a regular on the wing, and he featured in the run to the club's first major trophy, a cup final win in which Ajax were beaten 5-1 and which also secured PEC's first European qualification; the following year he won the Johan Cruijff Shield with the club.

Eligible to represent both the Netherlands and Turkey at youth level, Saymak mostly played for Dutch youth sides at under-19 and under-21 level, though he was called up to Turkey's under-20 team for a friendly against Uzbekistan in February 2013. He later returned to Turkish football, joining Çaykur Rizespor in 2018 and leaving the club in August 2019; he signed a two-year contract with Bandırmaspor in June 2022, and moved to TFF 2. Lig side Aliağa FK in January 2024.