Merih Demiral (born 5 March 1998) is a Turkish 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 le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

and the Turkey national team.

Club career

Early years

A product of the Fenerbahçe youth system, Demiral was signed by Portuguese side in 2016. In January 2017, he was loaned out to

Sporting B Sporting Clube de Portugal B is the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP, a team based in Lisbon. Reserve teams in Portugal play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. However, they cann ...

, and made his professional debut in the Segunda Liga for the latter club on 5 February 2017 in a 1–1 home draw against Famalicão. At the end of the season, he was signed outright by the club. On 15 August 2018, he joined Turkish club Alanyaspor on loan. On 29 January 2019, he permanently joined Alanyaspor for €3.5 million.

Sassuolo

On 30 January 2019, Demiral joined Italian club

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

on loan with an obligation to buy. He made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

and club debut on 24 February, in a 1–1 home draw against SPAL, and scored his first goals, both for the club and in Serie A—a brace in a 4–0 home win over Chievo—on 4 April.

Juventus

On 5 July 2019,

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

officially announced the transfer of Demiral from Sassuolo, on a five-year contract for €18 million. His salary was reportedly unfolded as

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1.3 million per year. He became the first Turkish player to play for the club. He made his club debut on 21 September, in a 2–1 home win over

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

in Serie A. He subsequently made his Champions League debut on 11 December, in the club's final group match, earning praise in the media for his performance as he helped Juventus keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 away win over Bayer Leverkusen. He scored his first goal for the club on 12 January 2020, the opener in a 2–1 away win over

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, which saw Juventus secure the unofficial title of "Winter Champions", though he was later substituted for Matthijs de Ligt after sustaining an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

injury. As a result, he was expected to be ruled out for the remainder of the season, including

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

. He returned to action on 1 August, featuring as a substitute in Juventus' 3–1 home defeat to Roma in Serie A, with Juventus already confirmed as league champions.

Loan to Atalanta

On 6 August 2021,

announced the signing of Demiral from

on loan with an option to buy. During the 2021–22 season, he accumulated a total of 42 appearances in all competitions, scored two goals, and provided three assists. Atalanta exercised the right to buy on 17 June 2022 for a fee of €20 million.

International career

Demiral represented Turkey at junior levels, including Under-17 and Under-19. He made his debut for the senior squad on 20 November 2018 in a friendly against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, as an 85th-minute substitute for

Mert Müldür Mert Müldür (born 3 April 1999) is a Turkish professional association football, footballer who plays as a defender (association football), defender for Italian club U.S. Sassuolo Calcio, Sassuolo and the Turkey national football team, Turkey na ...

. On 11 June 2021, Demiral scored an own goal in a 3–0 defeat against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the first game of the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

campaign; it was the first time in the tournament's history that the match opener kicked off with an own goal.

Style of play

Demiral is usually deployed as a

, in either a three or four-man defence, although he is a versatile player, who is also capable of playing as a right-sided full-back. An aggressive and instinctive defender, his main traits are his physicality, tactical intelligence, tackling, composure, and determination, which allow to excel at reading plays, and also enable him to anticipate or

mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

his opponents well. A tall and physically strong defender, he is also known for his ability in the air, which enables him to defend opposing

crosses Crosses may refer to: * Cross, the symbol Geography * Crosses, Cher, a French municipality * Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas Language * Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...

and clear the ball away from his own penalty area. Despite his tall stature and imposing physique, he is also a mobile defender, which allows him to make recoveries, win back the ball effectively, or restrict his opponents' movements when defending off the ball. Regarded as a promising young defender in the media, due to his characteristics, he has been compared to

Nemanja Vidić Nemanja Vidić ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Видић, ; born 21 October 1981) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is best known for his time at Manchester United, was part of the Serbia national team, and is ...

, whom Demiral himself has also cited as an inspiration. Another one of his influences is his Juventus teammate

Giorgio Chiellini Giorgio Chiellini (; born 14 August 1984) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Considered one of the best defenders of his generation, Chiellini is known for his strengt ...

, to whom he has also been compared. He has also been likened to former Juventus defender

Paolo Montero Rónald Paolo Montero Iglesias (born 3 September 1971) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player, who played as a central defender or left-back and is the manager of Primavera 1 team Juventus U19. Montero began his career in Uruguay w ...

Controversy

On 11 October 2019, following

Cenk Tosun Cenk Tosun (; born 7 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş and the Turkey national team. After making one Bundesliga appearance for Eintracht Frankfurt, he transferred to Gaziantepspor i ...

's goal in a 1–0 home win over

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

in a Euro 2020 qualifier, Demiral was one of the Turkish players who participated in a controversial "

military salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...

" goal celebration. The same day, he stated his open support for the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

; while his post was praised by Turkish supporters of the country's President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

, it also drew criticism from numerous football fans of Juventus on social media, as well as those of other clubs, some of whom asked for the club to take disciplinary actions against the player; others even demanded that Demiral be dismissed by the club.

Personal life

On 20 April 2022, Demiral and his Albanian wife Heidi Lushtaku became the parents of a son and made this public a month after the birth.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.''

Honours

Juventus *

: 2019–20 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

; runner-up:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Turkey U20 * Toulon Tournament third place:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Atalanta B.C. website *
TFF Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Demiral, Merih Living people 1998 births People from Karamürsel Association football central defenders Turkish footballers Turkey youth international footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkey international footballers U.S. Sassuolo Calcio players Alanyaspor footballers A.C. Alcanenense players Sporting CP B players Juventus F.C. players Atalanta B.C. players Serie A players Süper Lig players Liga Portugal 2 players Turkish expatriate footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Italy UEFA Euro 2020 players