Samed Yeşil (, born 25 May 1994) 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 striker for

Oberliga Niederrhein The Oberliga Niederrhein ( en, Premier League of the Lower Rhine) is a German amateur football division administered by the Football Association of the Lower Rhine, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Lowe ...

club Ratingen 04/19. Formed at

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 ...

, he moved as a teenager to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in 2012. In 2015, he was loaned to

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (german: Luzern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league s ...

. Yeşil has represented Germany up to under-19 level. He was particularly successful in their under-17 team, whom he helped become runners-up in the European Championship and third place at the

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 ...

in 2011, finishing as top scorer of the former and second top at the latter.

Club career

Early career

Yeşil was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

, but grew up in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

. He started playing football in local club CFR Links, aged just six and then he played for BV 04 Düsseldorf. At age of eleven he was offered trial at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, which he accepted. In 2010, he reached the final of German Junior championship, which his team lost 1–0 to

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 ...

. Next season he scored 22 goals in 24 matches for B-Junioren (U17/U16) and was moved one level up. Yeşil scored 57 goals in 71 matches in the

youth teams between 2010 and 2012. Yeşil made five appearances for the Leverkusen first team in his breakthrough year of 2012–13.

Liverpool

signed Yeşil for a price believed to be £1 million on 30 August 2012 after attracting the attention of manager

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...

, who moved quickly to secure the 18-year-old's signature. Yeşil's first game for Liverpool was in an Under-21 match against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, with the Reds winning 4–1. He shortly after got his first call-up to the senior squad after that, remaining an unused substitute in a 5–3

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. ...

group stage win away to BSC Young Boys of Switzerland on 20 September. Six days later, Yesil made his senior debut in the Football League Cup third-round game against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, starting in a 2–1 win at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of Championship club West Bromwich Albion since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the cl ...

. He also appeared in the next round against Swansea City, in which Liverpool succumbed to a 3–1 home defeat. On 7 December 2012, after coming back from injury, Yeşil scored his first goal in a Liverpool shirt with a half-volley lob over the goalkeeper to put Liverpool 3–1 up in a 4–1 win over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

at The Academy in the U21

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...

, after coming off the bench as a substitute. In February of the following year, after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament on international duty with Germany U19, he was sidelined for rest of the season. On 7 October 2013, Yeşil made his comeback as a substitute in a 5–0 win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in the

U21 Premier League The Professional Development League is a system of youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the The Football Association, Footbal ...

. He then again ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in training and was out of the season. Yeşil made his return from injury coming on as a substitute on 19 August 2014 in a

game against Sunderland. On 12 September, he scored his first goal since his return from injury in a 4–0 win over

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

. After suffering further injury setbacks, he made his first start in 6 months against

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

on 17 April 2015, scoring twice as Liverpool U21s won 3–1. On 31 August 2015, Yeşil joined Luzern on a season-long deal. He made his non-competitive debut for the club against

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in sev ...

on 4 September, scoring twice in three minutes as a second-half substitute in a 5–1 win. His Swiss Super League debut came nine days later, against Grasshopper Club Zürich, replacing Marco Schneuwly for the final fifteen minutes of a 3–3 draw. On 27 September, he scored his first senior goal, the game's only in a win over

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

at the Swissporarena. On 10 June 2016, he was released from Liverpool at the end of his contract.

Panionios

On 15 January 2017, Yeşil joined

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 away win against

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

. On 17 May 2017, thanks to a close-range effort by the German striker, Panionios won 1–0 against

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

at the Olympic Stadium of Athens, in the 2016–17 Play Offs. On 14 July 2017,

returned to

UEFA Europe 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 ...

after nine years of absence with a 2–0 home win over Slovenia’s Gorica at the first leg of the second qualifying round of the Europa League. Yesil scored a goal in each half to give Panionios a victory at Nea Smyrni Stadium, on the debut of manager

Michalis Grigoriou Michalis Grigoriou ( gr, Μιχάλης Γρηγορίου; born 19 December 1973) is a Greek professional football manager who is the current manager of Super League club Ionikos. Playing career Grigoriou played for Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. at c ...

. On the second leg of the second qualifying round of the Europa League, Yesil scored another goal, his third in this round restored lead from close range following Kapić penalty in a 3–2 away win. On 24 September 2017, he scored his first league goal for the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

in a 4–1 win against AEL. On 25 October 2017, he scored in the 93rd minute with a backheel in a 2–1 away win against

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

for the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

KFC Uerdingen 05

On 3 September 2018, Yeşil returned to Germany joining

KFC Uerdingen 05 KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now plays in the fifth-level Oberliga. History Th ...

after not signing a new contract with

. He left the club on 1 July 2019 after the expiry of his contract having played just 10 minutes of first team football in his two appearances for the club. After failing to find a new club in the summer transfer window, he trained with German 5th division club TSV Meerbusch in order to maintain his fitness.

Ankara Demirspor

On 26 December 2019, Yeşil signed for Turkish third division club

Ankara Demirspor Ankara Demirspor is a Turkish professional football club based in Ankara. They compete in the TFF Second League. They were one of the Super League's founding members in 1959. By winning the former Turkish Football Championship in 1947, they becam ...

on a free transfer.

FC Homburg

Yeşil moved to

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German semi-professional football division administered by the Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. Being the single flight of the Western ...

side VfB Homberg in October 2020.

International career

Yeşil is

Turkish-German Turks in Germany, also referred to as German Turks and Turkish Germans (german: Türken in Deutschland/Deutschtürken; tr, Almanya'da yaşayan Türkler/Almanya Türkleri), are ethnic Turkish people living in Germany. These terms are also used ...

. He has played for the German U-19 team. He is eligible to play for both the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Turkish national teams at senior level. Until now, he has not decided for which national team he is going to play for. According to Turkish media, his former teammate

Nuri Şahin Nuri Şahin (born 5 September 1988) is a football manager and former professional player who played as a central midfielder. He is the manager of Antalyaspor. He began his career at Borussia Dortmund, spending six years there – including a ye ...

who is also Turkish-German and a Turkish international, tried to convince him to choose the Turkish national team. Turkish national team head coach

Fatih Terim Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish association football manager and former player. He is the former manager of Galatasaray, a position he previously held four times. Terim has managed several clubs in Italy (Milan and Fiorentina) ...

wanted him in the Turkish national team.

Career statistics

Honours

Germany U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

: Runners-up ( 2011) *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

: third place ( 2011) Individual *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

top scorer: 2011 *

Silver Shoe: 2011

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yesil, Samed 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Krefeld German footballers Germany youth international footballers German people of Turkish descent Association football forwards Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players Liverpool F.C. players FC Luzern players Panionios F.C. players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Ankara Demirspor footballers VfB Homberg players Bundesliga players Regionalliga players 3. Liga players Swiss Super League players Super League Greece players TFF First League players Oberliga (football) players German expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Greece German expatriate sportspeople in England German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland German expatriate sportspeople in Greece Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia