Halil Çolak

Youth career

Çolak was born in Birecik, Turkey, but was raised in Deventer, a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. Çolak started his career at local Deventer club IJsselstreek. He soon joined Go Ahead Eagles as a youth player. Go Ahead Eagles had a cooperation agreement with FC Twente, and he joined their youth academy. In 2007, he won the national youth championship with the FC Twente A-juniors.

FC Twente

In the summer of 2007, Çolak was promoted the Twente's reserve squad, where he captured a place in the starting lineup under coach Cees Lok. Due to some good performances, he was called up by first team coach, Fred Rutten for the match against FC Utrecht. However, he didn't manage to become a part of the squad and was a reserve. On the last days of the transfer market in January 2008, Çolak signed a loan deal with Cambuur Leeuwarden.

Loan deals (2008–09)

Çolak made his debut on 1 February 2008, two days after he was signed. His debut came in the home-match against FC Zwolle which ended in a 1–1 draw. He played the whole match. Çolak played 11 matches for Cambuur. He scored one goal. On 27 July 2008, Go Ahead Eagles signed Çolak on a one-year deal, which meant a return to his hometown of Deventer. In the first league match of the season, an away-match against VVV-Venlo, he was a 57th-minute substitute for Jeffrey Vlug. The game eventually ended in a 5–0 loss for Go Ahead. In the following match, a home game against Fortuna Sittard, Çolak…