Yıldırım Mert Çetin (born 1 January 1997) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Ankaragücü. He also represents the Turkey national team.

Club career

Çetin made his professional debut for Gençlerbirliği in a 2–1

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

loss to

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

on 19 November 2017. On 16 August 2019, Çetin joined Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. He was sent on a one-year loan to

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

on 25 August 2020, with an option to purchase. On 15 January 2022,

announced that Çetin had been loaned to Turkish club

. On 6 August 2022, Çetin joined

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

on loan with an option to buy. On 19 January 2023, Çetin was loaned to

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a multi-sports club based in Adana, Turkey. The football department is the most popular department which relegated to TFF 1. Lig on 16 March 2025 after 4 seasons at the Super Lig. Founded by railway workers of Turk ...

, with an option to buy. On 10 July 2023, Hellas Verona announced that Çetin had been sent on a season-long loan to Ankaragücü, with a future option to buy.

International career

He made his debut for Turkey national team on 17 November 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

, substituting

Merih Demiral Merih Demiral (born 5 March 1998) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and Turkish national team. Club career Early years Product of the Fenerbahçe youth system, Demiral was sign ...

in the 80th minute.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * *
Gençlerbirliği profile
1997 births Living people Adana Demirspor footballers AS Roma players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Hacettepe S.K. footballers Hellas Verona FC players Kayserispor footballers Men's association football central defenders MKE Ankaragücü footballers People from Çankaya, Ankara Serie A players Footballers from Ankara Province Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Turkey men's international footballers Turkish expatriate men's footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Turkish men's footballers US Lecce players 21st-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-footy-defender-stub