Kaan Ayhan

Kaan Ayhan
Ayhan with Fortuna Düsseldorf in 2019
Personal information
Full name Kaan Ayhan
Date of birth (1994-11-10) 10 November 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back, right back
Team information
Current team
 Galatasaray
Number 23
Youth career
1999–2013 Schalke 04
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013 Schalke 04 II 3 (0)
2013–2016 Schalke 04 30 (1)
2016 → Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) 2 (0)
2016–2020 Fortuna Düsseldorf 113 (8)
2020–2023 Sassuolo 52 (1)
2023 → Galatasaray (loan) 5 (0)
2023– Galatasaray 40 (1)
International career‡
2009 Turkey U17 2 (0)
2009–2010 Germany U16 6 (0)
2010–2011 Germany U17 20 (3)
2012 Germany U18 2 (0)
2013–2015 Turkey U21 8 (1)
2016– Turkey 68 (5)
Medal record
Representing  Germany
Men's football
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Third place 2011 Mexico
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:57, 21 September 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024

Kaan Ayhan (born 10 November 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back or a right back for Süper Lig club Galatasaray. Born in Germany, he plays for the Turkey national team.

Club career

Schalke 04

Ayhan joined Schalke 04's youth academy when he was four years old.[2] On 18 January 2012, he signed a professional contract with Schalke 04 that would last until 30 June 2015.[3] Ayhan was assigned a number 24 shirt.[4] Ayhan made his debut against FC Augsburg in a 4–1 win on 5 October 2013, coming on as a substitute for Ádám Szalai.[5] On 3 May 2014, Ayhan scored his first Bundesliga goal in the 13th minute of a 2–0 victory at SC Freiburg.[6]

In January 2016, Ayhan joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan from Schalke for the second half of the season.[7] Frankfurt secured the option of signing him permanently, however, the fixed transfer fee was reported as being too high for a permanent signing to be likely.[8]

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 31 August 2016, Ayhan left Schalke 04 after 17 years at the club to join 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf.[9]

On 13 May 2017 Ayhan scored the third goal in a 3-2 for win over 1. FC Nürnberg, securing the 2017–18 2. Bundesliga title for Fortuna Düsseldorf.[10][11]

Sassuolo

On 16 August 2020, Ayhan joined Serie A club Sassuolo.[12]

Galatasaray

On 28 January 2023, Galatasaray announced the official negotiations for the temporary transfer of Kaan Ayhan from Sassuolo till the end of the season.[13] On 30 January 2023, the transfer was confirmed by Sassuolo as an initial loan with an obligation to buy.[14]

Ayhan became a champion in the Süper Lig in the 2022–23 season with the Galatasaray team. Defeating Ankaragücü 4–1 away in the match played in the 36th week on 30 May 2023, Galatasaray secured the lead with 2 weeks before the end and won the 23rd championship in its history.[15]

Following the season, it was announced that Galatasaray had triggered the buy option on Ayhan's loan deal at the cost of €2.8 million.[16]

International career

A Turkish-German, Ayhan has been capped by both Germany and Turkey junior national teams. In October 2013, Ayhan was selected for the Turkey under-21 squad.[17] He was called up by manager Fatih Terim for Turkey's friendly match against Russia on 31 August 2016, and subsequent World Cup 2018 qualifier against Croatia.[18] Kaan Ayhan gave his debut for the Turkey national football team on 31 August 2016 in a friendly against Russia.[19]

He was named in Turkey's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 May 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Schalke 04 2012–13[21] Bundesliga 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
2013–14[21] Bundesliga 14 1 0 0 1[a] 0 — 15 1
2014–15[21] Bundesliga 15 0 0 0 4[a] 0 — 19 0
2015–16[21] Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 4[b] 0 — 5 0
Total 30 1 0 0 9 0 — 39 1
Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) 2015–16[21] Bundesliga 2 0 0 0 — — 2 0
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2016–17[21] 2. Bundesliga 23 1 1 0 — — 24 1
2017–18[21] 2. Bundesliga 31 1 1 0 — — 32 1
2018–19[21] Bundesliga 28 4 3 0 — — 31 4
2019–20[21] Bundesliga 31 2 3 0 — — 34 2
Total 113 8 8 0 — — 121 8
Sassuolo 2020–21[21] Serie A 19 0 1 0 — — 20 0
2021–22[21] Serie A 23 1 1 0 — — 24 1
2022–23[21] Serie A 10 0 1 1 — — 11 1
Total 52 1 3 1 — — 55 2
Galatasaray (loan) 2022–23[21] Süper Lig 5 0 1 1 — — 6 1
Galatasaray 2023–24[21] Süper Lig 35 1 1 0 12[c] 0 1[d] 0 49 1
Total 40 1 2 1 12 0 1 0 55 2
Career total 237 11 13 2 21 0 1 0 272 13
  1. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Ten appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearance in Turkish Super Cup

International

As of match played 19 November 2024[22][23]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Turkey 2016 4 0
2017 4 0
2018 10 0
2019 11 3
2020 3 0
2021 13 1
2022 6 1
2023 4 0
2024 13 0
Total 68 5
Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ayhan goal.
List of international goals scored by Kaan Ayhan[22]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 25 March 2019 Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir, Turkey  Moldova 4–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2 8 June 2019 Büyükşehir Stadium, Konya, Turkey  France 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
3 14 October 2019 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France  France 1–1 1–1 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
4 27 May 2021 Bahçeşehir Okulları Stadium, Alanya, Turkey  Azerbaijan 2–1 2–1 Friendly
5 14 June 2022 Gürsel Aksel Stadium, İzmir, Turkey  Lithuania 1–0 2–0 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

Fortuna Düsseldorf

Galatasaray

Germany U17

References

  1. ^ "Kaan Ayhan". U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Kaan Ayhan" (in German). Schalke 04. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Schalke-Talent Kaan Ayhan erhält Profi-Vertrag" (in German). Der Westen. 18 January 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Kaan Ayhan ist der dienstälteste Knappe" (in German). Schalke 04. 5 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Schalke 4 Augsburg 1". Soccerway. 5 October 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Job almost done for Schalke". Bundesliga. 3 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  7. ^ Walsh, Jonathan. "Kaan Ayhan swaps Schalke for Frankfurt". Vavel. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  8. ^ Lieto, Toni (3 January 2015). "Ayhans Ziel: Mit Spielpraxis zurück zum FC Schalke". Kicker Online (in German). Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Ayhan moves to Fortuna Düsseldorf". Schalke 04. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  10. ^ Janning, Falk (14 May 2018). "Fortuna Düsseldorf: Kaan Ayhan sucht sein Trikot – und findet es bei Bibiana Steinhaus". rp-online.de. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Nürnberg vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf - 13 May 2018 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Calciomercato: dal Fortuna Düsseldorf arriva Kaan Ayhan". U.S. Sassuolo Calcio (in Italian). Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Kaan Ayhan'ın geçici transferi hakkında". Galatasaray S.K. 28 January 2023. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  14. ^ "CALCIOMERCATO: KAAN AYHAN CEDUTO AL GALATASARAY" (in Italian). U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. 30 January 2023. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Turkish Super Lig: Galatasaray win title for 23rd time after beating Ankaragucu 4-1". BBC Sport. 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Profesyonel Futbolcu Kaan Ayhan'ın Transferi Hakkında". Galatasaray S.K. 1 July 2023. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Ümit Milli Takım'ın Yunanistan ve Polonya maçları aday kadrosu belli oldu" (in Turkish). TFF. 5 October 2013. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  18. ^ "Fatih Terim'den sürpriz kadro!". spor.haber7.com. 26 August 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  19. ^ "Turkey vs. Russia". Archived from the original on 4 September 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  20. ^ "A Millî Takımımızın EURO 2024 Aday Kadrosu Açıklandı" [EURO 2024 Candidate Squad of Our National Team Announced] (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 7 June 2024. Archived from the original on 7 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Kaan Ayhaan". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  22. ^ a b "Ayhan, Kaan". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  23. ^ "Kaan Ayhan". EU-Football.info. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  24. ^ "CUMHURİYETİN YÜZÜ, TÜRKİYE'NİN EN BÜYÜĞÜ, ŞAMPİYON GALATASARAY!". Galatasaray S.K. 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 April 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ^ "IFA U-17 World Cup Mexico 2011". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
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