Kenan_Yıldız
Kenan Yıldız
Footballer (born 2005)
Kenan Yıldız (Turkish pronunciation: [ke:nan ɯɫ:dɯz]; born 4 May 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus. Born in Germany, he plays for the Turkey national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (2005-05-04) 4 May 2005 (age 18) | ||
| Place of birth | Regensburg, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Forward, attacking midfielder, winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Juventus | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2010–2011 | Sallern Regensburg | ||
| 2011–2012 | Jahn Regensburg | ||
| 2012–2022 | Bayern Munich | ||
| 2022–2023 | Juventus | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022–2023 | Juventus Next Gen | 14 | (2) |
| 2023– | Juventus | 23 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2021–2022 | Turkey U17 | 10 | (3) |
| 2022–2023 | Turkey U21 | 6 | (1) |
| 2023– | Turkey | 5 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024 | |||
Youth career
Yıldız was born in Regensburg, Bavaria, and began playing football at the youth academies of Sallern Regensburg and Jahn Regensburg.[2] He joined the youth academy of Bayern Munich in 2012 at the age of 7,[3] and worked his way up their youth categories, often acting as captain and eventually becoming a mainstay of their U19s.[4] In his final year with the Bayern U19s in the 2021–22 season, Yıldız contributed six goals and eight assists in 20 matches.[5]
Juventus
Yıldız's contract with Bayern Munich expired in July 2022, and the club confirmed that they were unable to re-sign Yıldız.[6] Barcelona and Juventus competed for his signing as he became a free agent.[7] On 12 July, Juventus confirmed the signing of Yıldız.[8] In September, he was included among the best 60 players born in 2005 by English newspaper The Guardian.[9]
After playing with the U19s, on 16 December, Yıldız was first called up to Juventus Next Gen—the reserve team of Juventus—for the match against Virtus Verona set to be played the following day.[10] In that match, he was subbed in by coach Massimo Brambilla in the 61st minute to make his professional debut;[11] the team lost 3–0.[12]
Yıldız made his Serie A debut for Juventus in a 3–0 away win over Udinese on 20 August 2023, coming on as a second-half substitute.[13] Ten days later, he extended his contract with the club until 2027.[14][15] He made his first start for the Juventus first team on 23 December 2023, scoring the opening goal in a 2–1 win over Frosinone. This made him the club's youngest foreign goalscorer in Serie A at the age of 18 years and 233 days.[16]
Yıldız was born in Germany to a Turkish father and a German mother. He is a youth international for Turkey, having represented the Turkey U17s.[17] On 27 September 2022, Yıldız made his Turkey U21 debut, playing 28 minutes against Georgia.[18]
In October 2023, he received his first call-up to the Turkey senior national team for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Croatia and Latvia.[19][20] On 12 October, Yıldız made his full international debut as an 86th-minute substitute in the 1–0 win over Croatia.[21]
He scored his first international goal on 18 November 2023 in a 3–2 win over Germany, his country of birth, in Berlin.[22]
Yıldız is a modern midfielder known for his strong passing and shots from outside the box. He is known for his excellent technique.[23] His most natural role is as playmaker, and he is noted for this strong frame. Aside from midfielder, he can also play as a winger.[1]
Club
- As of match played 23 April 2024[24]
| Club | Season | League | Coppa Italia | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Juventus Next Gen | 2022–23 | Serie C | 7 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2023–24 | 7 | 2 | — | — | 7 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 14 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | |||
| Juventus | 2023–24 | Serie A | 23 | 1 | 4 | 2 | — | 27 | 3 | |
| Career total | 37 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 5 | ||
- Appearance in Coppa Italia Serie C
International
- As of match played 26 March 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | 2023 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 5 | 1 | |
- Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yıldız goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 November 2023 | Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany | 2 |  Germany | 2–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
- Uhr, Von Felix Kronawitter 31 März 2022 14:26. "Barcelona lockt Regensburger Yildiz". Mittelbayerische Zeitung.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Hummel, Thomas (22 February 2017). "Bundesliga: Die große Jagd nach Jugendfußballern". Süddeutsche.de.
- "Bayern'den ayrılacak milli futbolcu Kenan Yıldız'a Barcelona ve Juventus talip". Sporx. 5 July 2022.
- Durant, Michel (1 June 2022). "Barcelona 'seriously considering' Bosman move for Bayern Munich midfielder".
- "FC Bayern – Knallhart-Poker! Entscheidung bei Wunderkind (17) gefallen". bild.de. 5 July 2022.
- ""Barcellona e Juve si sfidano per Kenan Yildiz"". corrieredellosport.it. 5 July 2022.
- JuventusNews24, Redazione (12 July 2022). "Juve Primavera, doppio colpo UFFICIALE: presi Yildiz e Srdoc. La nota del club". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 12 July 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven; Blight, Garry. "Next Generation 2022: 60 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- JuventusNews24, Redazione (16 December 2022). "Convocati Juventus Next Gen per la Virtus Verona: tre rientri, prima chiamata per Yildiz". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 16 December 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - JuventusNews24, Redazione (17 December 2022). "Esordio Yildiz, primi minuti da professionista con la Juventus Next Gen". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 17 December 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Baridon, Marco (17 December 2022). "Juventus Next Gen Virtus Verona 0-3: crollo casalingo per i bianconeri". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 17 December 2022.
- "Juventus, chi è Kenan Yildiz: il classe 2005 che ha esordito in Serie A". La Casa di C (in Italian). 20 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
- "Kenan Yildiz rinnova con la Juventus!". Juventus.com (in Italian). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- "Yildiz, futuro Juve. Firma fino al 2027: "Troppo bello per essere vero"". Tuttosport (in Italian). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- "KENAN YILDIZ'S RECORD-BREAKING FIRST GOAL FOR JUVE!". Juventus FC. 23 December 2023.
- "Kenan Yıldızı Ajax ve Juventus transfer etmek istiyor". Fanatik. 12 August 2022.
- "La Juve si gode Kenan Yildiz: prima l'esordio in U21 turca, poi l'incoronazione di The Guardian - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com (in Italian). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
- "A Millî Takım'ın Hırvatistan ve Letonya Maçları Aday Kadrosu Açıklandı". www.tff.org (in Turkish). 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
- "A Millî Takım Aday Kadrosunda Değişiklik". www.tff.org (in Turkish). 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
- "YILDIZ MAKES TURKEY DEBUT". Juventus FC. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- "İtalyanlar, Kenan Yıldız'ı efsane isme benzetti! 'Mücevher'". Milliyet (in Turkish). 19 November 2023.
- "Chi è Kenan Yildiz, l'ultimo talento accostato alla Juve". Juventus News - Ultime Notizie Juve - il BiancoNero. 6 August 2022.
- Kenan Yıldız at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- Kenan Yıldız at Soccerway
- DFB profile
- FC Bayern profile