Kaan Ayhan

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Kaan Ayhan
Ayhan with Fortuna Düsseldorf in 2019
Personal information
Full name Kaan Ayhan
Date of birth (1994-11-10) 10 November 1994
Place of birth Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
 Galatasaray
Number 23
Youth career
1999–2013 Schalke 04
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013 Schalke 04 II 3 (0)
2013–2016 Schalke 04 30 (1)
2016 → Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) 2 (0)
2016–2020 Fortuna Düsseldorf 113 (8)
2020–2023 Sassuolo 52 (1)
2023 → Galatasaray (loan) 5 (0)
2023– Galatasaray 84 (3)
International career‡
2009 Turkey U17 2 (0)
2009–2010 Germany U16 6 (0)
2010–2011 Germany U17 20 (3)
2012 Germany U18 2 (0)
2013–2015 Turkey U21 8 (1)
2016– Turkey 74 (6)
Medal record
Representing  Germany
Men's football
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Third place2011 Mexico
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 June 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 June 2025

Kaan Ayhan (born 10 November 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Süper Lig club Galatasaray. Born in Germany, he plays for the Turkey national team.

Club career

Schalke 04

Ayhan joined Schalke 04's youth academy when he was four years old.[2] On 18 January 2012, he signed a professional contract with Schalke 04 that would last until 30 June 2015.[3] Ayhan was assigned a number 24 shirt.[4] Ayhan made his debut against FC Augsburg in a 4–1 win on 5 October 2013, coming on as a substitute for Ádám Szalai.[5] On 3 May 2014, Ayhan scored his first Bundesliga goal in the 13th minute of a 2–0 victory at SC Freiburg.[6]

In January 2016, Ayhan joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan from Schalke for the second half of the season.[7] Frankfurt secured the option of signing him permanently, however, the fixed transfer fee was reported as being too high for a permanent signing to be likely.[8]

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 31 August 2016, Ayhan left Schalke 04 after 17 years at the club to join 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf.[9]

On 13 May 2017 Ayhan scored the third goal in a 3-2 for win over 1. FC Nürnberg, securing the 2017–18 2. Bundesliga title for Fortuna Düsseldorf.[10][11]

Sassuolo

On 16 August 2020, Ayhan joined Serie A club Sassuolo.[12]

Galatasaray

On 28 January 2023, Galatasaray announced the official negotiations for the temporary transfer of Kaan Ayhan from Sassuolo till the end of the season.[13] On 30 January 2023, the transfer was confirmed by Sassuolo as an initial loan with an obligation to buy.[14]

Ayhan became a champion in the Süper Lig in the 2022–23 season with the Galatasaray team. Defeating Ankaragücü 4–1 away in the match played in the 36th week on 30 May 2023, Galatasaray secured the lead with 2 weeks before the end and won the 23rd championship in its history.[15]

Following the season, it was announced that Galatasaray had triggered the buy option on Ayhan's loan deal at the cost of €2.8 million.[16]

International career

A Turkish-German, Ayhan has been capped by both Germany and Turkey junior national teams. In October 2013, Ayhan was selected for the Turkey under-21 squad.[17] He was called up by manager Fatih Terim for Turkey's friendly match against Russia on 31 August 2016, and subsequent World Cup 2018 qualifier against Croatia.[18] Kaan Ayhan gave his debut for the Turkey national football team on 31 August 2016 in a friendly against Russia.[19]

He was named in Turkey's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[20]

On 2 June 2026, Ayhan was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[21] In Turkey’s group stage game against the United States, Ayhan scored the winning goal in the final minute of the game, putting Turkey ahead 3-2.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 June 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Schalke 04 2012–13[23] Bundesliga 0000——00
2013–14[23] Bundesliga 141001[a]0—151
2014–15[23] Bundesliga 150004[a]0—190
2015–16[23] Bundesliga 10004[b]0—50
Total 3010090—391
Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) 2015–16[23] Bundesliga 2000——20
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2016–17[23] 2. Bundesliga 23110——241
2017–18[23] 2. Bundesliga 31110——321
2018–19[23] Bundesliga 28430——314
2019–20[23] Bundesliga 31230——342
Total 113880——1218
Sassuolo 2020–21[23] Serie A 19010——200
2021–22[23] Serie A 23110——241
2022–23[23] Serie A 10011——111
Total 52131——552
Galatasaray (loan) 2022–23[23] Süper Lig 5011——61
Galatasaray 2023–24[23] Süper Lig 3511012[c]01[d]0491
2024–25[23] Süper Lig 301408[e]01[f]0431
2025–26[23] Süper Lig 191404020290
Total 893101240401273
Career total 284132123304034215
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Ten appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearance in Turkish Super Cup
  5. One appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearance in Turkish Super Cup

International

As of match played 25 June 2026[24][25]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Turkey 201640
201740
2018100
2019103
202040
2021131
202261
202340
2024130
202540
202621
Total746
Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ayhan goal.
List of international goals scored by Kaan Ayhan[24]
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
125 March 2019Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir, Turkey20 Moldova4–04–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
28 June 2019Büyükşehir Stadium, Konya, Turkey22 France1–02–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
314 October 2019Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France26 France1–11–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
427 May 2021Bahçeşehir Okulları Stadium, Alanya, Turkey35 Azerbaijan2–12–1Friendly
514 June 2022Gürsel Aksel Stadium, İzmir, Turkey49 Lithuania1–02–02022–23 UEFA Nations League C
625 June 2026SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, United States74 United States3–23–22026 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Fortuna Düsseldorf

Galatasaray

Germany U17

References

  1. "Kaan Ayhan". U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  2. "Kaan Ayhan" (in German). Schalke 04. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  3. "Schalke-Talent Kaan Ayhan erhält Profi-Vertrag" (in German). Der Westen. 18 January 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  4. "Kaan Ayhan ist der dienstälteste Knappe" (in German). Schalke 04. 5 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  5. "Schalke 4 Augsburg 1". Soccerway. 5 October 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  6. "Job almost done for Schalke". Bundesliga. 3 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  7. Walsh, Jonathan. "Kaan Ayhan swaps Schalke for Frankfurt". Vavel. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  8. Lieto, Toni (3 January 2015). "Ayhans Ziel: Mit Spielpraxis zurück zum FC Schalke". Kicker Online (in German). Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  9. "Ayhan moves to Fortuna Düsseldorf". Schalke 04. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  10. Janning, Falk (14 May 2018). "Fortuna Düsseldorf: Kaan Ayhan sucht sein Trikot – und findet es bei Bibiana Steinhaus". rp-online.de. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  11. "Nürnberg vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf - 13 May 2018 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  12. "Calciomercato: dal Fortuna Düsseldorf arriva Kaan Ayhan". U.S. Sassuolo Calcio (in Italian). Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  13. "Kaan Ayhan'ın geçici transferi hakkında". Galatasaray S.K. 28 January 2023. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  14. "CALCIOMERCATO: KAAN AYHAN CEDUTO AL GALATASARAY" (in Italian). U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. 30 January 2023. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  15. "Turkish Super Lig: Galatasaray win title for 23rd time after beating Ankaragucu 4-1". BBC Sport. 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  16. "Profesyonel Futbolcu Kaan Ayhan'ın Transferi Hakkında". Galatasaray S.K. 1 July 2023. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  17. "Ümit Milli Takım'ın Yunanistan ve Polonya maçları aday kadrosu belli oldu" (in Turkish). TFF. 5 October 2013. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  18. "Fatih Terim'den sürpriz kadro!". spor.haber7.com. 26 August 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  19. "Turkey vs. Russia". Archived from the original on 4 September 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  20. "A Millî Takımımızın EURO 2024 Aday Kadrosu Açıklandı" [EURO 2024 Candidate Squad of Our National Team Announced] (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 7 June 2024. Archived from the original on 7 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  21. "2026 Turkey World Cup roster: Complete 26-man team". 2 June 2026. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  22. Associated Press (26 June 2026). "Türkiye beats much-changed USMNT with last-gasp goal". www.espn.com. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  23. "Kaan Ayhaan". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  24. "Ayhan, Kaan". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  25. "Kaan Ayhan". EU-Football.info. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  26. "CUMHURİYETİN YÜZÜ, TÜRKİYE'NİN EN BÜYÜĞÜ, ŞAMPİYON GALATASARAY!". Galatasaray S.K. 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  27. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. "TÜRKİYE'NİN İLK VE TEK BEŞ YILDIZLI ŞAMPİYONU GALATASARAY!" (in Turkish). Galatasaray S.K. 18 May 2025. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
  29. "ÜST ÜSTE 4. SENE ŞAMPİYON GALATASARAY!". Galatasaray S.K. 9 May 2026. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  30. "TÜRKİYE KUPASI 19. KEZ GALATASARAY'IN!" (in Turkish). Galatasaray S.K. 14 May 2025. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  31. "Galatasaray wins Turkish Super Cup after Fenerbahce U19 team walks off after 1st-minute goal - Sportstar". Archived from the original on 12 April 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  32. "IFA U-17 World Cup Mexico 2011". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.