Emre Akbaba

Emre Akbaba tried his luck in France first, going through trials at Le Havre and Laval before settling for a season with Bobigny in the DSR. In 2012 he crossed to Turkey to join Antalyaspor's youth setup, and his senior career began the following year at Kahramanmaraş BB, where he scored once in 15 appearances.

He went out on loan from Antalyaspor to Alanyaspor and immediately started scoring: 25 goals in 56 games in his first loan spell, then a further 20 in 66 appearances once the transfer became permanent. That form took him to Galatasaray in August 2018 for a fee of €4,000,000, and in Istanbul he won the Süper Lig, the Turkish Cup and the Turkish Super Cup, all in his first season at the club. A loan back to Alanyaspor for 2021–22 produced ten goals in 31 matches before he moved on to Adana Demirspor in 2022, where he reached the milestone of his 100th career goal and finished with 14 goals in 59 appearances.

Akbaba joined Eyüpspor on a free transfer in July 2024, signing a two-year contract and contributing 11 goals in around 61 appearances across all competitions during his time there. He also played for Turkey's national team, earning seven caps and scoring three goals between 2017 and 2018, including a strike against Albania and a brace against Sweden in the UEFA Nations League.