Samed Yeşil (, born 25 May 1994) is a German

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 striker for ATS Krefeld. Formed at

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 moved as a teenager to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 2012. In 2015, he was loaned to

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (). It is best known for its professional association football, football team, which plays in the Swiss Super League, Super League, the top tier of the ...

. Yeşil has represented Germany up to under-19 level. He was particularly successful in their under-17 team, whom he helped become runners-up in the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

and third place at the

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 ...

in 2011, finishing as top scorer of the former and second top at the latter.

Club career

Early career

Yeşil was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, but grew up in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

. He started playing football in local club CFR Links, aged just six and then he played for BV 04 Düsseldorf. Aged eleven he was offered trial at

Bayer 04 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 association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

, which he accepted. In 2010, he reached the final of German Junior championship, which his team lost 1–0 to

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 ...

. Next season he scored 22 goals in 24 matches for B-Junioren (U17/U16) and was moved one level up. Yeşil scored 57 goals in 71 matches in the

youth teams between 2010 and 2012. Yeşil made five appearances for the Leverkusen first team in his breakthrough year of 2012–13.

Liverpool

signed Yeşil for a price believed to be £1 million on 30 August 2012 after attracting the attention of manager

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...

, who moved quickly to secure the 18-year-old's signature. Yeşil's first game for Liverpool was in an Under-21 match against Chelsea, with the Reds winning 4–1. He shortly after got his first call-up to the senior squad after that, remaining an unused substitute in a 5–3

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 ...

group stage win away to

BSC Young Boys Berner Sport Club Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation, ) is a Swiss professional sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 17 Swiss league championships and eight Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss footbal ...

of Switzerland on 20 September. Six days later, Yesil made his senior debut in the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

third-round game against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, starting in a 2–1 win at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

. He also appeared in the next round against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

, in which Liverpool succumbed to a 3–1 home defeat. On 7 December 2012, after coming back from injury, Yeşil scored his first goal in a Liverpool shirt with a half-volley lob over the goalkeeper to put Liverpool 3–1 up in a 4–1 win over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

at The Academy in the U21

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

, after coming off the bench as a substitute. In February of the following year, after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament on international duty with Germany U19, he was sidelined for rest of the season. On 7 October 2013, Yeşil made his comeback as a substitute in a 5–0 win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the

U21 Premier League The Professional Development League is a system of English youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Pe ...

. He then again ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in training and was out of the season. Yeşil made his return from injury coming on as a substitute on 19 August 2014 in a

game against Sunderland. On 12 September, he scored his first goal since his return from injury in a 4–0 win over

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

. After suffering further injury setbacks, he made his first start in 6 months against

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

on 17 April 2015, scoring twice as Liverpool U21s won 3–1. On 31 August 2015, Yeşil joined

Luzern Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

on a season-long deal. He made his non-competitive debut for the club against

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

on 4 September, scoring twice in three minutes as a second-half substitute in a 5–1 win. His

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

debut came nine days later, against

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

, replacing Marco Schneuwly for the final fifteen minutes of a 3–3 draw. On 27 September, he scored his first senior goal, the game's only in a win over

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

at the

Swissporarena Swissporarena is a multi-use stadium in Lucerne, Switzerland, completed in 2011. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of FC Luzern of the Swiss Super League. The stadium has a capacity of 16,800 spectators, including ...

. On 10 June 2016, he was released from Liverpool at the end of his contract.

Panionios

On 15 January 2017, Yeşil joined

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 away win against

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club (), or with its full name officially romanized as Panaitolikós Gymnastikós Filekpaideftikós Sýllogos (''; Pan- Aetolian Gymnastic and Educational Club''), is a Greek professional football club. It is based in Agrini ...

. On 17 May 2017, thanks to a close-range effort by the German striker, Panionios won 1–0 against

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

at the Olympic Stadium of Athens, in the 2016–17 Play Offs. On 14 July 2017,

returned to

after nine years of absence with a 2–0 home win over Slovenia’s Gorica at the first leg of the second qualifying round of the Europa League. Yesil scored a goal in each half to give Panionios a victory at

Nea Smyrni Stadium Nea Smyrni Stadium (''Greek (language), Greek: Στάδιο Νέας Σμύρνης'') is a multi-purpose stadium in Nea Smyrni, Greece. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and is the home stadium of Panionios FC, ...

, on the debut of manager

Michalis Grigoriou Michalis Grigoriou (; born 19 December 1973) is a Greek professional football manager. Playing career Grigoriou played for Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. at club level, including two seasons in the Alpha Ethniki. Honours Manager ;Fostiras *Delta Ethni ...

. On the second leg of the second qualifying round of the Europa League, Yesil scored another goal, his third in this round restored lead from close range following Kapić penalty in a 3–2 away win. On 24 September 2017, he scored his first league goal for the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

in a 4–1 win against AEL. On 25 October 2017, he scored in the 93rd minute with a backheel in a 2–1 away win against

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

for the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

KFC Uerdingen 05

On 3 September 2018, Yeşil returned to Germany joining

KFC Uerdingen 05 KFC Uerdingen 05 was a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side, which had its greatest successes in the 1980s, plays in the fourth-level Regionalliga. In 2025, th ...

after not signing a new contract with

. He left the club on 1 July 2019 after the expiry of his contract having played just 10 minutes of first team football in his two appearances for the club. After failing to find a new club in the summer transfer window, he trained with German 5th division club TSV Meerbusch in order to maintain his fitness.

Ankara Demirspor

On 26 December 2019, Yeşil signed for Turkish third division club

Ankara Demirspor Ankara Demirspor is a Turkish professional football club based in Ankara. They compete in the TFF Second League. They were one of the Super League's founding members in 1959. By winning the former Turkish Football Championship in 1947, they bec ...

on a free transfer.

FC Homburg

Yeşil moved to

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German professional football division administered by the German Football Association#Western Germany, Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. ...

side VfB Homberg in October 2020. In August 2023, he was playing for Kreisliga A side CSV Marathon. After a great start to the season with Marathon where he had scored 28 goals by April 2024, it was announced he would be joining ATS Krefeld for the following season. He finished his spell with Marathon with 44 goals in 27 games.

International career

Yeşil is

Turkish-German Turks in Germany, also referred to as German Turks and Turkish Germans ( or ''Deutschtürken''; , also known as ''Gurbetçiler'' or ''Almancılar''), are ethnic Turkish people living in Germany. These terms are also used to refer to German-born ...

. He has played for the German U-19 team. He is eligible to play for both the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Turkish national teams at senior level. Until now, he has not decided for which national team he is going to play for. According to Turkish media, his former teammate

Nuri Şahin Nuri Şahin (born 5 September 1988) is a German and Turkish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently head coach of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. He began his playing career at Dortmun ...

who is also Turkish-German and a Turkish international, tried to convince him to choose the Turkish national team. Turkish national team head coach

Fatih Terim Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish people, Turkish professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab FC (Riyadh), Al-Shabab ...

wanted him to play for Turkey.

Career statistics

Honours

Germany U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competition, having ...

: Runners-up (

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

) *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

: third place (

) Individual *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

top scorer:

Silver Shoe:

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yesil, Samed 1994 births Living people Footballers from Krefeld German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers German sportspeople of Turkish descent Men's association football forwards Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players Liverpool F.C. players FC Luzern players Panionios F.C. players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Ankara Demirspor footballers VfB Homberg players Bundesliga players Regionalliga players 3. Liga players Swiss Super League players Super League Greece players TFF 1. Lig players Oberliga (football) players German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Greece German expatriate sportspeople in England German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland German expatriate sportspeople in Greece 21st-century German sportsmen