Caner Erkin (, born 4 October 1988) 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 ...

who plays for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

İstanbul Başakşehir ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

and the Turkey national team.

Club career

Early years

Erkin began his professional career at the start of the 2004–05 season with Manisaspor who at the time were playing in the Second Division. That season they won the league and got promoted to the

. During his 1.5-year stay at Manisaspor in, he scored 5 goals in 39 games. In the January 2007

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer ...

, he moved to

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

, for a £3.5 million transfer fee. He has played a total of 40 games, 7 in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

and also won the

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premi ...

on two occasions. On 31 August 2009,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other dep ...

signed Erkin on a one-year loan from

with an option to purchase at the end of the season.

Fenerbahçe

Erkin signed for Fenerbahçe in 2010. Starting out as a

left winger 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 ...

, he was slowly transformed into a

left-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 ...

. His performances with led to him being scouted by several prominent European clubs. In 2014, he signed a new two-year contract.

Inter Milan

On 1 June 2016,

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

announced the signing of Erkin on a free transfer in a three-year deal commencing on 1 July. Erkin was the first summer transfer addition to the squad. Under

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sampd ...

and new coach

Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Ered ...

, Erkin made seven appearances in pre-season friendlies. However, he did not make any competitive debut before leaving Inter on 30 August. Inter also ran out of players quota in

2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played between Ajax and ...

, as the club was forced to reduce to 22-men squad ( plus normal minimum requirement of homegrown and club-trained players) due to penalty of UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations, thus Caner was sacrificed for other signings. Domestically, Inter had one quota left (plus another for an Inter-trained player), but left vacant.

Beşiktaş

On 30 August 2016, Inter Milan announced that Erkin's one-year deal with his homeland club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

as on loan. On 7 June 2017, Beşiktaş signed Erkin for €750,000 transfer fee. On 23 August 2019, Erkin scored the second goal of

2019–20 Süper Lig The 2019–20 Süper Lig, officially called the Süper Lig Cemil Usta season, was the 62nd season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. The season was named after Cemil Usta, a former Turkish national team player and T ...

Week 2 home encounter, from a cross of his gone in the net, against

Göztepe S.K. Göztepe Spor Kulübü (, Göztepe Sports Club), also known as Göztepe, is a Turkish sports club based in the Göztepe and Güzelyalı neighborhoods of İzmir. The "AŞ" refers to ''incorporated company'', as besides football, the club also h ...

which ended 3–0 in favour of Beşiktaş. He was released at the end of the

season.

Return to Fenerbahçe

On 6 August 2020, he signed a two-year deal until June 2022 with an option for an extra year. After four years at Beşiktaş, the other side of Istanbul, he returned to Fenerbahçe. On 11 September, in his first game back against Çaykur Rizespor, he assisted Gökhan Gönül's header, who was a returnee like himself. On 4 August 2021, Fenerbahçe announced that he would not be included in the club's squad for the upcoming season according to the team's manager Vitor Pereira's decision.

İstanbul Başakşehir

On 28 January 2023, Erkin signed a 1.5-year contract with

International career

Erkin made his debut for the

Turkish national football team The Turkey national football team ( tr, Türkiye Millî Futbol Takımı) represents Turkey in men's international football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation ( tr, Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu), the governing bod ...

at the age of 17 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

in May 2006. His first goal was 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 invas ...

on 5 June 2012.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Erkin goal.''

Honours

Fenerbahçe *

: 2010-11, 2013–14 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup (Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup (Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

CSKA Moscow * Russian Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09 Beşiktaş *

: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Erkin, Caner 1988 births Living people People from Edremit, Balıkesir Turkish footballers Turkey international footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkey youth international footballers Manisaspor footballers PFC CSKA Moscow players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Inter Milan players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Fatih Karagümrük S.K. footballers İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players Süper Lig players Russian Premier League players Turkish expatriate footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Russia Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Association football midfielders TFF First League players UEFA Euro 2016 players