During the first six weeks of the 2026/27 Süper Lig campaign, the Turkish Football Federation’s (TFF) mandatory youth quota for foreign players has yielded sharply uneven results across clubs, according to data published by Transfermarkt. Under the regulations requiring teams to include at least four under-23 foreign players among their 14-man foreign allocation, clubs deployed youth talent with varying degrees of trust—with Kasımpaşa leading the league in playing time while several traditional giants left their quota additions glued to the bench.
Kasımpaşa Leads Süper Lig in Under-23 Foreign Minutes
Data tracking player minutes from 1 January 2003 onwards reveals that Kasımpaşa sat atop the league’s youth usage table during the opening six weeks, accumulating 1,327 total minutes across five different young foreign players. İstanbul-based Kasımpaşa heavily integrated these prospects into regular match action rather than treating them strictly as bench cover.
Midfielder Elson Mendes paced the club with 387 minutes on the pitch, closely followed by Adem Arous with 363 minutes and Jakob Jessen with 296 minutes. Marcus Rafferty contributed 249 minutes, while Thiemoko Diarra added 32 minutes of action to round out Kasımpaşa’s league-leading total.
Samsunspor and Kocaelispor Give Youth Foreign Talents Playing Time
Samsunspor and Kocaelispor followed closely behind the leaders in the early-season playing time metrics. Samsunspor collected 1,215 minutes across four under-23 foreign talents, anchored by Saikuba Jarju’s 452 minutes. Gabriele Guarino logged 360 minutes, Antoine Sekongo chipped in 223 minutes, and Ali Badra Diabaté recorded 180 minutes.
Kocaelispor registered 1,188 minutes of youth action. Gonçalo Sousa led the side with 427 minutes, while Tanguy Zoukrou managed 416 minutes. Mahamadou Susoho earned 323 minutes of playing time, and Tobias Gulliksen featured for 22 minutes. Meanwhile, Gaziantep FK collected 941 minutes, driven largely by Kacper Kozłowski’s 510 minutes and Victor Gidado’s 364 minutes, alongside brief appearances from Karamba Gassama (42 minutes) and Enver Kulasin (25 minutes).
Trabzonspor Outpaces Other Süper Lig Giants in Youth Trust
Among the traditional “Big Four” clubs, approaches to the youth quota diverged significantly. Trabzonspor emerged as the most willing among the elite to lean on its young foreign contingent, registering a combined 951 minutes across three players. Wagner Pina led the way with 507 minutes, accompanied by Noah Saviolo at 342 minutes and Franculino at 102 minutes.
By contrast, other major clubs relied heavily on veteran rosters, leaving several quota players on the sidelines. Beşiktaş recorded 590 minutes total across three players, with Kassoum Ouattara taking 447 minutes across domestic and European fixtures, Ernest Poku playing 77 minutes, and Fabio Miretti logging 66 minutes.
Galatasaray’s youth usage plummeted to 307 minutes among four players. Aleksey Batrakov logged 230 minutes—including 64 minutes in the UEFA Champions League—while Lesley Ugochukwu played 62 minutes and Renato Nhaga saw 15 minutes of action. El Chadaille Bitshiabu failed to make an appearance during the initial stretch.
Fenerbahçe recorded the lowest total among the major clubs at 121 minutes. Dorgeles Nene played 101 minutes and Kojo Oppong featured for 20 minutes, while Ognjen Mimović did not receive any playing time in the opening six weeks.
Andrei Borza Tops Individual Under-23 Playing Time
On an individual level, Çorum FK’s Romanian left-back Andrei Borza claimed the league’s top spot for under-23 foreign playing time during the first six weeks, logging 539 minutes and missing just a single minute of action. The 20-year-old defender edged out Trabzonspor Nigerian center-back Chibuike Nwaiwu, who recorded 533 minutes.
Gaziantep FK midfielder Kacper Kozłowski placed third with 510 minutes. Alanyaspor’s Ruan followed with 492 minutes, and Gençlerbirliği’s Ousmane Diabate completed the top five with 482 minutes on the pitch.
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