Deniz Yılmaz (born 26 February 1988) 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 last played as a striker for Turkish club Gençlerbirliği. Born in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, Yılmaz is of ethnic Turkish origin. Having represented Turkey internationally at various youth levels he initially sought to play for the Turkey senior national team. After not being nominated for the 2016 European Championship squad, he chose to play for

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 ...

Club career

Yılmaz began his career with

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, and made his debut for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in August 2005, as a substitute for

Daniel Sikorski Daniel Sikorski (born 2 November 1987) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a striker, who currently serves as the sporting director of Aris Limassol. Besides Austria, he has played in Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Romani ...

in a 0–0 draw with

VfR Aalen Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, tab ...

. From the 2007–08 season, Yılmaz established himself as a regular in Bayern's reserve team, and was named in the first-team squad for the 2008–09 Champions League. He was named on the subs bench for the first time in a

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

game against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

in October 2008. This proved to be his last involvement with Bayern's team, however, despite finishing as the top scorer for the second string in 2009–10, with thirteen goals. He was joint top scorer the following year, along with

Boy Deul Boy Darryl Deul (born 30 August 1987) is a Dutch professional footballer of Curaçaoan heritage. Club career He has previously played for Bayern Munich II, FC Volendam, Willem II and SC Veendam. In 2014, he joined FC Emmen. He moved abroad to ...

and Steffen Wohlfarth, but each player only managed six goals and Bayern II were relegated from the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

in last place. In July 2011, Yılmaz joined

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

, and made his

debut six months later, in a 3–2 defeat to

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 ...

. He made one more appearance for Mainz in the 2011–12 season, and joined 2. Bundesliga side

SC Paderborn 07 Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest success since the ...

on loan for the 2012–13 season. On 15 January 2018, Yılmaz left

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

and joined Gençlerbirliği. He signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Gençlerbirliği.

International career

Yılmaz was born in West Germany to parents of Turkish descent. Yılmaz won around 50 caps for

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

at youth level all categories comprised, including 8 for the Turkey U21. In 2016, after years of waiting for a senior Turkish call-up, Yılmaz switched to the

Azerbaijan national football team The Azerbaijan national football team () is the national association football, football team of Azerbaijan and is controlled by Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan. It represents Azerbaijan in international football competitions. ...

. Yılmaz made his debut for Azerbaijan in a 4-0 2018 World Cup qualification loss to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

on 11 November 2016.

Career statistics

Honours

Turkey * UEFA Under-17 Championship:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yilmaz, Deniz 1988 births Living people People from Neu-Ulm Footballers from Swabia (Bavaria) Men's association football forwards Azerbaijani men's footballers 21st-century Azerbaijani sportsmen Azerbaijan men's international footballers Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Azerbaijani people of Turkish descent Azerbaijani expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Azerbaijani expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany FC Bayern Munich II players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players SC Paderborn 07 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Süper Lig players Elazığspor footballers Trabzonspor footballers Bursaspor footballers Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers 21st-century Turkish sportsmen