Ferdi Erenay Kadıoğlu was born on October 7, 1999, in Arnhem, the capital of Gelderland. His mother is originally from Canada, and his father is Turkish. He played for ESA Youth Academy, NEC Youth Academy, NEC U17, NEC Nijmegen, and Fenerbahçe clubs. He started his national team career with the Netherlands U-21 team. In 2022, Ferdi Kadıoğlu announced that he would represent Türkiye, and he made his official debut on June 4, 2022. Having played 22 matches for the Turkish National Team, Kadıoğlu has scored 1 goal. Playing as a left-back, Kadıoğlu will continue his career at Brighton from August 24, 2024, wearing the number 24 shirt.
Football Career
Ferdi Kadıoğlu began his football career at the age of 7 with the ESA Youth Academy. He played for NEC Youth Academy, NEC U17, NEC Nijmegen, and Fenerbahçe clubs. He played 143 minutes in 2 matches for NEC Nijmegen U19 and 158 minutes in 3 matches for NEC Nijmegen U21.
NEC Nijmegen
Ferdi Kadıoğlu was promoted to the first team of NEC Nijmegen on July 1, 2016. He made his official debut in the Eredivisie on August 28, 2016, coming on in the 88th minute in a match against AZ Alkmaar. On October 30, 2016, in a match against FC Utrecht, he scored his first goal in the 62nd minute after coming on in the 46th minute. Playing 70 matches for NEC Nijmegen with the number 16 shirt, he scored 12 goals and made 18 assists. He accumulated a total of 4,436 minutes of playing time.
Fenerbahçe
Ferdi Kadıoğlu transferred to Fenerbahçe from NEC Nijmegen on July 14, 2018, at the age of 18. He played 59 minutes in 1 match for Fenerbahçe U19 and 885 minutes in 10 matches for U21. In his first season at Fenerbahçe, he did not play in the Süper Lig. At the age of 19, Ferdi Kadıoğlu made his Süper Lig debut on August 19, 2019. He was brought on in the 77th minute due to an injury to Victor Moses, and in his first match, he scored his first goal in the 88th minute with an assist from Max Kruse. Over the course of 148 Süper Lig matches, Kadıoğlu scored 11 goals and provided 16 assists.
For the UEFA Europa League, Kadıoğlu made his first start on September 16, 2021, in the match against Eintracht Frankfurt. He played 22 matches in the Turkish Cup, scoring 3 goals and providing 3 assists. Kadıoğlu made a total of 204 appearances for Fenerbahçe, accumulating 14,158 minutes of play. He scored 18 goals and contributed 22 assists during his time at Fenerbahçe.
Brighton & Hove Albion FC
Brighton, playing in the Premier League, signed Ferdi Kadıoğlu on August 24, 2024. He made his Premier League debut on September 14, 2024, coming on in the 68th minute in a match against Ipswich Town. On November 2, 2024, in a match against Liverpool FC, he scored in the 14th minute with an assist from Danny Welbeck. However, Ferdi Kadıoğlu was injured during the Liverpool match and has not yet returned to the field. So far, wearing the number 24 shirt, he has played 8 matches, scoring 2 goals and accumulating 440 minutes of playtime.
National Team Career
Ferdi Kadıoğlu started his national team career in 2015 at the age of 15 with the Netherlands U16 team. He played for the Netherlands U16, U17, U18, U19, U20, and U21 teams. Playing for the Dutch U-21 and U-23 national teams, Kadıoğlu joined the Turkish National Team in 2022. He made his first appearance for Türkiye at the age of 22, on June 4, 2022, during the tenure of coach Stefan Kuntz. In his 22 matches for Türkiye, he scored 1 goal. In an interview, Ferdi Kadıoğlu stated the following regarding his national team choice:
"I see that many players trained in the Netherlands' youth academies have chosen the Turkish National Team. Since I didn't play for the Netherlands senior team, I have the right to choose between Türkiye, the Netherlands, and Canada at the senior level."
In the 2024 European Championship, he played the full 90 minutes in the matches: Türkiye-Georgia, Türkiye-Portugal, Türkiye-Czech Republic, Türkiye-Austria, Türkiye-Netherlands, wearing the number 20 shirt. When asked by a journalist, "I would like to ask a question from the Dutch press. When we spoke with the coach, he mentioned that you could find a place in the Netherlands national team as well, what do you think about that?" Ferdi responded, "It doesn't matter. I made my decision two years ago to wear the Turkish national team jersey, and today, I am here."
In the Austria match, Ferdi Kadıoğlu set a tournament record with a 12,200-meter run.
Achievements
Fenerbahçe
- Türkiye Cup: 2022/2023
- UEFA Europa League Participant: (2021-2022), (2022-2023)
- Conference League Participant: (2021-2022), (2023-2024)
Netherlands National Team
- Netherlands U17 - U17 European Championship Participant: 2016, 2017
- Netherlands U19 - U19 European Championship Participant: 2017, 2018
- Netherlands U21 - U21 European Championship Participant: 2021
Türkiye National Team
- European Championship Participant: 2024
