‘Say goodbye with pride and satisfaction’

Feyenoord captain Orkun Kökcü has a new club. The 22-year-old midfielder has signed a five-year contract with Benfica, the champions of Portugal and Feyenoord have announced.

“I have always said I would only leave Feyenoord when the time is right and the conditions would also be good for the club,” Kökcü said on the Feyenoord website, with whom he became champion this season.

“I wanted nothing more than to be successful with this great club first. That this has succeeded helps me to be able to say goodbye now with pride and satisfaction.”

Benfica reports that the transfer fee is €25 million, but that bonuses could add another €5 million to that amount.

With the transfer fee of 25 million euros, Kökcü equals Feyenoord’s most expensive sale ever. Last year Luis Sinisterra was also sold for 25 million euros, to Leeds United.

Feyenoord negotiated a resale percentage for Kökcü, how high that percentage is, the Portuguese club did not disclose. According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano and Feyenoord news platform 1908.nl, that percentage would be between 20% and 25%.

The Portuguese club has also had another clause included in the contract of the Turkish international, who will play with number 10. Should any interested club wish to take over Kökcü over the next five years, 150 million euros must be paid.

The 22-year-old Kökcü became enthusiastic about Benfica after talks with Fredrik Aursnes, his former teammate at Feyenoord who made the move last year to the Portuguese club where former PSV coach Roger Schmidt is at the helm.

Kökcü was met by many Portuguese journalists upon arrival at Lisbon airport on Friday. He is due to report to Turkey’s national soccer team next week to play against Latvia and Wales in the European Championship qualifier.

Haarlem-born Kökcü made the switch from the youth academy of FC Groningen to that of Feyenoord in 2014. With the Rotterdammers, he made his debut in 2018.

Last season, Kökcü became Feyenoord’s captain, winning his first national title since 2017. Kökcü, who also won a Johan Cruijff Schaal with the club in 2018, played 175 games for the Rotterdammers, scoring 32 times and providing 27 assists.