Burak Yilmaz

Burak Yilmaz (born 15 July 1985) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Turkish club Trabzonspor and the Turkey national football team. He has also played for "big four" clubs in Turkey: Besiktas J.K., Fenerbahçe S.K., Trabzonspor and Galatasaray S.K.. Burak started his professional career in Antalyaspor as a midfielder. He scored his first goal in the 2004-05 season against Karsiyaka. He played 29 matches, scoring 8 goals and helping his team avoid relegation. He contributed to the success of the team's promotion to the Süper Lig after finishing second in Division 1 in the 2005-06 season especially in the second half of the season after scoring 9 goals in 24 matches. In 70 league appearances for the club he scored 17 goals. Burak was transferred to Besiktas in the summer of 2006. He made his debut on August 6, 2006 against Manisaspor, and scored his first goal against Konyaspor in a 3-1 win for Besiktas. He also scored against Trabzonspor. In his first season, he scored 5 goals in 30 league appearances and Besiktas finished the League in the second place. He played also in the Turkish Cup 7 times and scored 1 goal, helping his team win the cup. His form dropped dramatically during the 2007-08 season. In January 2008, he was sold to Manisaspor as part of an exchange deal, and later to Fenerbahçe on 29 June 2008. On 29 June 2008, Burak was sold to Fenerbahçe and was presented at a news conference wearing the number 7 shirt. On the contrary to his "promising youngster" image in Manisaspor and Besiktas, he had been a disappointment during his spell in Fenerbahçe, only playing six games and failing to score in the 2008-09 season. In February 2010, Burak was transferred permanently to Trabzonspor. Following the arrival of a new coach, Trabzonspor legend Senol Günes, he debuted on 15 February 2010 and played the last 15 minutes against Bursaspor in a 1-1 draw. After joining the club, he recovered his goal-scoring form, and on February 26 he scored for Trabzonspor against his old team Antalyaspor, helping his side to a second place league finish for the 2010-11 season. Burak also competed in the Turkish Cup semi-finals and went on to defeat his old team, Fenerbahçe, 3-1 in the finals. Ten days later, Trabzonspor played against Fenerbahçe again in the last game of the league season. Burak scored in the 23rd minute, helping his team escape with a 1-1 away draw. As a result, Fenerbahce finished in second-place of the league competition, one point behind the champion Bursaspor. He became Trabzonspor's leading goalscorer with 19 goals in 30 league games and July 2011 he signed a new four-year contract with the club. Burak opened the following season by helping Trabzonspor win its first Turkish Super Cup in team history. In the 2010-11 Süper Lig season he was one of the team's most effective players, especially over the final weeks of the league, scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 win over Besiktas, scoring in 1-0 wins against Galatasaray and Bursaspor, and helping Trabzonspor finish as runner-up for the League. In the regular season of the 2011-12 Süper Lig, Burak scored 33 goals in 34 appearances, a new club record previously held by Fatih Tekke who scored 31 goals in the 2004-05 season. On 13 July 2012, he signed a 4+1 year contract with Galatasaray for EUR 5 million from Trabzonspor. Yilmaz would receive EUR2.3 million per-season with a EUR20,000 bonus per-appearance. On 2 September 2012, he scored his first goal for Galatasaray against Bursaspor, as the game finished 3-2, making it Galatasaray's historic 1000th league win. On 19 September, in a Champions League match against Manchester United, he became the first Turkish player to play a Champions League match with four most of the most successful Turkish clubs. Two weeks later he scored the only goal for Galatasaray as the game ended in a 1-1 home draw against Eskisehirspor. On October 23, in the 3rd game of the Champions League Group Stage, he scored a goal from a header for Galatasaray to avoid losing the match as the game ended in a 1-1 draw against CFR Cluj. On 28 October, he scored his 100th career goal, during a 3-0 win against Kayserispor, maintaining their position as league leaders. On 7 November 2012, Burak netted a perfect hat-trick in a 3-1 away win over CFR Cluj in a Champions League group match, becoming the first Turkish player to score three goals in a Champions League game since Tuncay Sanli. He continued his streak by scoring the only goal of the game in the crucial Champions League group win against Manchester United with a header in second half on November 20 securing Gala's advantage at the second place of the group before the last games. He finished the group stage of the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League as top scorer with 6 goals in 501 minutes, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the same number of goals in 540 minutes. On 23 November 2013, Burak scored his 100th Süper Lig goal against Sivasspor in a 2-1 home win. On 5 February 2016, Galatasaray announced Burak's agreeing with Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan for EUR 8 million transfer fee. Galatasaray would pay EUR 2 million to his former club Trabzonspor because of agreement. On 2 August 2017, Burak Yilmaz transferred to Trabzonspor for family reasons. He managed to score 23 goals in 25 matches in his return season. Burak is the son of the manager and former professional footballer Fikret Yilmaz.