Dutch-Ghanaian winger Ernest Poku has joined Besiktas from Bayer Leverkusen on a loan deal, completing a move to the Turkish Super Lig club on 27 August 2026.
The 22-year-old right winger will remain with Besiktas until 30 June 2027. No loan fee has been disclosed for the transfer, which takes Poku from the Bundesliga to Turkey after one season with Leverkusen.
Poku joined Leverkusen from AZ Alkmaar on 12 August 2025 in a permanent transfer worth €10m. His move to Besiktas follows a season in which he was registered for the DFB-Pokal, although he did not make an appearance in the competition during the 2026-27 campaign before switching clubs.
Born in Hamburg on 28 January 2004, Poku came through the youth system at FC Amsterdam before moving to AZ Alkmaar in 2019. He progressed through AZ’s academy and represented the club’s youth, under-18 and under-21 sides before joining the senior team in July 2023.
His time at AZ included success in European and domestic youth football. Poku won the UEFA Youth League with AZ Alkmaar’s under-19 side in the 2022-23 season and also lifted the Dutch Under-19 Youth Cup in 2023.
Poku is listed as a right winger and prefers his right foot. He is 1.76m tall and joins a Besiktas side competing in the Super Lig. The move gives him a fresh opportunity to continue his senior career after his transfer to Leverkusen last summer.
The Netherlands and Ghana national has a market value of €25m, the same figure recorded at the time of his departure from Leverkusen. His earlier move from FC Amsterdam’s youth setup to AZ Alkmaar was completed as a free transfer in 2019.
Poku’s loan spell at Besiktas is contracted to run until 30 June 2027.
