Levin Mete Öztunalı (born 15 March 1996) is a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for 2. Bundesliga club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

. Following seven years in the academy of

, Öztunalı made his senior debut with

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

in 2013. He made 15 league appearances for the club before joining

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

on a season-and-a-half loan deal two years later. Following the expiration of the loan in 2016, Öztunalı joined current club Mainz. He has also represented

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at various youth levels and was part of the squads which won the

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

in 2014 and

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

in 2017. He gained 30 caps and scored 7 goals until 2019.

Club career

Bayer Leverkusen

upright=0.7, left, Öztunalı with Leverkusen in 2014 On 2 February 2013,

announced the signing of Öztunalı from Bundesliga rivals

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

on a five-year deal, with the transfer to be completed at the end of the season. He made his debut on 10 August, coming on as a late substitute for

Gonzalo Castro Gonzalo Castro Randón (born 11 June 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is also a former Germany international. Club career Bayer Leverkusen Born in Wuppertal to Spanish parents, he began his ca ...

in a 3–1 win over

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

. At 17 years and 146 days Öztunalı became the youngest player to ever play for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, and the 11th youngest player in the history of the competition. On 26 August 2014, Öztunalı was voted the second best u-18 player in Germany behind teammate

Julian Brandt Julian Brandt (; born 2 May 1996) is a German professional footballer who plays as a right winger, central midfielder or attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Germany national team. Brandt made over 55 combined appe ...

, in doing so he was awarded the silver

Fritz Walter Medal The Fritz Walter Medal is a series of annual awards given by the German Football Association to youth footballers in Germany. First awarded in 2005, it is named in honour of Fritz Walter, captain of West Germany's 1954 FIFA World Cup-winning tea ...

Loan spell at Werder Bremen

On 21 December 2014, Öztunalı joined

on an 18-month loan deal, running until the end of the 2015–16 campaign. Upon his arrival in Bremen, Chief Executive Thomas Eichin described Öztunalı as "one of the most sought-after talents in the Bundesliga." His first goal for ''Die Grün-Weißen'' came on the final day of the 2014–15 season when he netted in a 3–2 loss to

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

. Öztunalı had to wait until May the following the season to score his next goal for the club, netting one and assisting another in a 6–2 drubbing of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. The result saw Bremen climb out of the relegation zone at the expense of their opponents. He made his final appearance for the club on 14 May, playing for 77 minutes as Bremen beat

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

1–0 to avoid relegation. On 2 June 2016, amid speculation that Öztunalı would remain at Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen director of football

Rudi Völler Rudolf "Rudi" Völler (; born 13 April 1960), nicknamed "''Tante Käthe''" ("Aunt Käthe"), is a German former professional football player and manager who serves as the sporting director for Bayer Leverkusen. A forward, Völler won the FIFA W ...

confirmed that he would be returning to Leverkusen and would be part of the squad for the following season. Öztunalı amassed a total of 46 appearances across all competitions during his 18-month spell with Werder Bremen.

Mainz 05

On 25 August 2016, Leverkusen's Bundesliga rivals

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

announced the signing of Öztunalı on a five-year deal. He made his debut against

on 27 August, coming on as a second half-substitute for Suat Serdar, and scored his first goal for the club in the following match-week in a 4–4 draw with

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentione ...

. He scored his first ever European goal on 29 September, netting the winner in a 3–2

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

victory over Azerbaijani side,

Qabala Qabala ( az, Qəbələ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Qabala District of Azerbaijan. The municipality consists of the city of Gabala and the village of Küsnat. Before the city was known as Kutkashen, but after the Republic of ...

. He ultimately made 36 appearances in the season across all competitions, including 23 starts and five goals in the league as Mainz narrowly avoided the relegation play-offs.

Hamburger SV

On 27 June 2023, Öztunalı joined

on a free transfer, on a contract until 2026.

International career

He has represented various German youth teams, however, as he is not capped at senior international level, he is eligible to represent for

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

German national youth teams

2017083211455 2017-03-24 Fussball U21 Deutschland vs England - Sven - 1D X II - 0335 - AK8I3148 mod

Öztunalı has represented Germany at various youth levels since his debut for the U15 side in 2010. In 2014, he was part of the squad which took part in the

in Hungary. He scored the third goal in a semi-final victory over Austria and started in the final as Germany claimed the title with a 1–0 win over Portugal. His form throughout the competition saw him named in the Team of the Tournament alongside top scorer

Davie Selke Davie Selke (; born 20 January 1995) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln. Selke began his professional career with Werder Bremen in 2013 where he went on to score 10 goals in 36 appearance ...

and four other countrymen. In 2017, Öztunalı was one of 23 players selected in

Stefan Kuntz Stefan Kuntz (born 30 October 1962) is a German professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the head coach of the Turkey national team. Kuntz represented the Germany national team between 1993 and 1997, rea ...

's squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland. Germany were ultimately crowned champions, beating

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

1–0 in the final to claim the title.

Personal life

Öztunalı is the grandson of former German international footballer and

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

finalist

Uwe Seeler Uwe Seeler (; 5 November 1936 – 21 July 2022) was a German footballer and football official. As a striker, he was a prolific scorer for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the West Germany national team. Widely regarded as one of ...

. His father is Turkish and previously served as a scout for

Career statistics

Honours

Germany U19 *

: 2014 Germany U21 *

: 2017 Individual * UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2014 *

U18 Silver: 2014

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oztunali, Levin 1996 births Living people Footballers from Hamburg German sportspeople of Turkish descent German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players SV Werder Bremen players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players 1. FC Union Berlin players Hamburger SV players Bundesliga players Regionalliga players