Levin Mete Öztunalı (born 15 March 1996) 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 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 2. Bundesliga club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

. Following seven years in the academy of

, Öztunalı made his senior debut with

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 2013. He made 15 league appearances for the club before joining

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

on a season-and-a-half loan deal two years later. Following the expiration of the loan in 2016, Öztunalı joined

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, where he spent 5 years before joining Union Berlin in 2021. After two years there, he returned to Hamburg in 2023. He has also represented

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

at various youth levels and was part of the squads which won the

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

in 2014 and the

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

in 2017. He gained 30 caps and scored 7 goals until 2019.

Club career

Bayer Leverkusen

upright=0.7, left, Öztunalı with Leverkusen in 2014 On 2 February 2013,

announced the signing of Öztunalı from Bundesliga rivals

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

on a five-year deal, with the transfer to be completed at the end of the season. He made his debut on 10 August, coming on as a late substitute for Gonzalo Castro in a 3-1 win over

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. At 17 years and 146 days old, Öztunalı became the youngest player to ever play for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and the 11th youngest player in the history of the competition. On 26 August 2014, Öztunalı was voted the second-best u-18 player in Germany behind teammate Julian Brandt, and in doing so, he was awarded the silver Fritz Walter Medal.

Loan spell at Werder Bremen

On 21 December 2014, Öztunalı joined

on an 18-month loan deal, running until the end of the 2015–16 campaign. Upon his arrival in Bremen, Chief Executive Thomas Eichin described Öztunalı as "one of the most sought-after talents in the Bundesliga." His first goal for ''Die Grün-Weißen'' came on the final day of the 2014–15 season when he netted in a 3–2 loss to

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

. Öztunalı had to wait until May of the following season to score his next goal for the club, netting one and assisting another in a 6–2 drubbing of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. The result saw Bremen climb out of the relegation zone at the expense of their opponents. He made his final appearance for the club on 14 May, playing for 77 minutes as Bremen beat

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

1–0 to avoid relegation. On 2 June 2016, amid speculation that Öztunalı would remain at Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen director of football Rudi Völler confirmed that he would be returning to Leverkusen and would be part of the squad for the following season. Öztunalı amassed a total of 46 appearances across all competitions during his 18-month spell with Werder Bremen.

Mainz 05

On 25 August 2016, Leverkusen's Bundesliga rivals Mainz 05 announced the signing of Öztunalı on a five-year deal. He made his debut against

on 27 August, coming on as a second half half substitutesubstitute for Suat Serdar, and scored his first goal for the club in the following match-week in a 4–4 draw with Hoffenheim. He scored his first-ever European goal on 29 September, netting the winner in a 3–2

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

victory over Azerbaijani side

Qabala Qabala () is a city and the administrative centre of the Qabala District of Azerbaijan. The municipality consists of the city of Gabala and the village of Küsnət, Qabala, Küsnat. Before the city was known as Kutkashen, but after the Republic o ...

. He ultimately made 36 appearances in the season across all competitions, including 23 starts and five goals in the league as Mainz narrowly avoided the relegation play-offs.

Hamburger SV

On 27 June 2023, Öztunalı joined

on a free transfer, on a contract until 2026.

International career

He has represented various German youth teams, however, as he is not capped at senior international level, he is eligible to represent 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 ...

German national youth teams

2017083211455 2017-03-24 Fussball U21 Deutschland vs England - Sven - 1D X II - 0335 - AK8I3148 mod

Öztunalı has represented Germany at various youth levels since his debut for the U15 side in 2010. In 2014, he was part of the squad which took part in the

in Hungary. He scored the third goal in a semi-final victory over Austria and started in the final as Germany claimed the title with a 1–0 win over Portugal. His form throughout the competition saw him named in the Team of the Tournament alongside top scorer Davie Selke and four other countrymen. In 2017, Öztunalı was one of 23 players selected in Stefan Kuntz's squad for the

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2017) was the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international youth association football, football championship organised by UEFA for ...

in Poland. Germany were ultimately crowned champions, beating

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

1–0 in the final to claim the title.

Personal life

Öztunalı is the grandson of former German international footballer and

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 name is ...

finalist

Uwe Seeler Uwe Seeler (; 5 November 1936 – 21 July 2022) was a German Association football, footballer and football official. As a Striker (association football), striker, he was a prolific scorer for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the Ger ...

. His father is Turkish and previously served as a scout for

Career statistics

Honours

Germany U19 *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Germany U21 *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual * UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament:

* Fritz Walter Medal U18 Silver:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oztunali, Levin 1996 births Living people Footballers from Hamburg German sportspeople of Turkish descent German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players SV Werder Bremen players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players 1. FC Union Berlin players Hamburger SV players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players 21st-century German sportsmen