Tolga Seyhan

Tolga Seyhan — Biography

Tolga Seyhan was born on 17 January 1977 in Giresun and was a 1.87 m-tall centre-back. He began his career as a striker at Giresun Şafakspor, continued playing up front for a time at Sivasspor, Düzcespor and Çanakkale Dardanelspor, and was then moved into defence, where he settled as a central defender. He joined Malatyaspor in 2002, helping the club survive in the Süper Lig and then earn a UEFA Cup place, and was called up to the national team during this period. When manager Ziya Doğan moved to Trabzonspor, Seyhan followed him there in 2003-04 and won the Turkish Cup with the club that season.

In 2005 he was transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk for €3.5 million through the efforts of Mircea Lucescu, though he saw little playing time there due to competition for his position. In 2006 he was loaned to Galatasaray for a season, then loaned again to Trabzonspor; he subsequently moved to Kocaelispor, to Hacettepe in January 2009, to Gençlerbirliği in June 2009 after Hacettepe's relegation, and finally to Gaziantepspor, also playing at some point for Oftasspor. In July 2010 he returned to his hometown of Giresun, signing with Giresunspor and being made team captain. He earned 21 caps for Turkey in total, including 2 for the under-21 team, 1 for the A2 team and 18 for the senior side.

After retiring as a player, Seyhan moved into club administration: he was appointed Giresunspor's sporting director in August 2023 and agreed to become club manager of 23 Elazığ FK in November 2024. In May 2026 he was reported to have entered politics by joining the Gelecek Partisi.