Barış Ekincier (; born 24 March 1999) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Turkish club

Ümraniyespor Ümraniyespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Ümraniye, Istanbul. The club has played in red-and-white kits since its formation in 1938. Stadium Currently the team plays at the 3,513-capacity Ümraniye Belediyesi � ...

. Born in Germany, he has represented

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

at youth international levels up to the under-21s.

Club career

Ekincier began his football career with the youth teams of FC Iserlohn and

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 1955. The latt ...

, before joining the

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

youth academy in 2017. In August 2017, he played for the first team in a friendly match against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. In June 2018, Ekincier signed his first professional contract with

, lasting two years until 30 June 2020. On 19 August 2018, he appeared for Bochum in the first round of the

2018–19 DFB-Pokal The 2018–19 DFB-Pokal was the 76th season of the annual German football cup competition. Sixty-four teams participated in the competition, including all teams from the previous year's Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. The competition began on 1 ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 62nd minute for Tom Weilandt in the 1–0 away loss against

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord () is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...

side Weiche Flensburg. Ekincier made his 2. Bundesliga debut for Bochum on 5 April 2019, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute for Miloš Pantović in the 2–1 away loss against Jahn Regensburg. On 18 July 2019, it was announced that Ekincier had joined SK Austria Klagenfurt on a season-long loan deal.

International career

Ekincier was included in hosts Azerbaijan's squad for the

2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (34th edition if the Under-16 era is included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the men's under- ...

in May 2016. He appeared in Azerbaijan's first two matches, with the team being eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.

Personal life

Ekincier was born in the German city of

Hemer Hemer () is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Hemer is located at the north end of the Sauerland near the Ruhr (river), Ruhr river. The highest elevation, at , is in the ''Balver Wald'' in t ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

and is of Turkish descent.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekincier, Baris 1999 births Living people People from Hemer Footballers from Arnsberg (region) Men's association football midfielders Azerbaijani men's footballers Azerbaijan men's youth international footballers Azerbaijan men's under-21 international footballers German men's footballers Azerbaijani people of Turkish descent German people of Azerbaijani descent German sportspeople of Turkish descent 2. Bundesliga players 2. Liga (Austria) players 3. Liga players TFF 1. Lig players VfL Bochum players SK Austria Klagenfurt (2007) players SV Waldhof Mannheim players Şanlıurfaspor footballers Ümraniyespor footballers German expatriate men's footballers Azerbaijani expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Azerbaijani expatriate sportspeople in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Azerbaijani expatriate sportspeople in Turkey German expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 21st-century German sportsmen