Atakan Akkaynak
Country: Germany/Turkey
Date of birth: 05/01/1999 (17 years old)
Place of birth: Troisdorf (Germany)
Height: 180cm
Youth career: TuS Oberlar, Bayer Leverkusen (since 2007)
Current club: Bayer Leverkusen
Squad number: —
Current national team: Germany U-18
Position: defensive midfielder, central midfielder, attacking midfielder
Preferred foot: right
Market value (by transfermarkt.de): —
Tournaments participated in: 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification elite round (3/0), 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (4/2), UEFA Youth League 2016/2017 (4/2)
Contract until: 30.06.2019
Player’s agent: unknown
Transfer rumours: —
Similar type of player: Toni Kroos
Strengths:
– passing 
– vision
– teamwork
– technique and ball control
– creativity 
– pace 
– crossing
– positional sense
– tactical intelligence 
Weaknesses:
– doesn’t feel too comfortable at contact situations and hasn’t an impressive defensive technique
– his passing game might be a bit too risky and at times
– aerial duels
Style of play:
– creative box-to-box midfielder/midfield controller/deep-lying playmaker
– able to play deeper in midfield as the man who will be able to control the tempo of the game sitting next to a combative defensive midfielder
– tactically intelligent, versatile and charismatic midfielder, gifted with good ball skills, distribution, vision, and ability to read the game
– likes to play through balls
– likes to spread play with good long-range diagonals
– highly technical and creative player
– very good in combination play
– impacts the game at both the ends of the pitch
– likes to orchestrate play with his passing and creativity
– great composure and confidence on the ball
– likes to exploit spaces near or even inside the 18-yard opponents’ box to provide some last through/killer pass or face the goal himself with his decent shooting ability
– constantly asking for the ball and often is an additional passing option
– finds himself best in positional attack
– accurate set-piece taker
– high number of touches and passes per game
– natural leader
He is best suited to playing as:
Central midfielder in 4-2-3-1.
Video:
Achievements:
—
League summary (as for 11 November 2016):
No senior team appearances yet.
Description:
Atakan Akkaynak grew up in the Bayer Leverkusen youth academy. The most important moment of his career came in 2016 European Under-17 Championship, where he was named captain of the German national side. He led his team all the way to the semifinal, where they had got knocked out against Spain. In the previous season he was an absolute star of the U-17 Leverkusen side, and currently he is one of the leaders of the U-19 team. He seems to be destined to be the main candidate to follow in the footsteps of Kai Havertz, another 17-year old who already got his Bundesliga debut.
Quotes:
‘The Bayer Leverkusen teen oozes class. An authoritative presence in front of the back four, Akkaynak has a knack of making the game look very simple. Suspended for Germany’s tournament opener, the deep-lying midfielder contributed two goals on his return, against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria.’
(uefa.com – after 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship)
Football Talent Scout potential rating:
9/10 
Player has potential to become a key player in a top European club.
Links:
