Kerem Demirbay (born 3 July 1993) 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 ...

of Turkish origin 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

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 ...

club

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. He is nicknamed "Dayı" ("Uncle" in English) due to his resemblance of a popular Turkish TV show fictional character. A former youth international 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 ...

, Demirbay switched allegiances to represent

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 senior level.

Early life and career

Demirbay was born in

Herten Herten (; Westphalian: ''Hiätten'') is a town and a municipality in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated in the industrial Ruhr Area, some west of Recklinghausen. Geography Town area Herten cov ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia. He began playing club football with

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

in 1999. After several years with the club, he continued his training with

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 ...

and

SG Wattenscheid 09 SG Wattenscheid 09 is a Football in Germany, German association football club located in Wattenscheid, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club claimed an official founding date of 18 September 1909 as Ballspiel-Verein Wattenscheid out of the me ...

Club career

Borussia Dortmund

After spending a year in their youth setup, Demirbay was promoted to

Borussia Dortmund II Borussia Dortmund II are the reserve team of Borussia Dortmund, currently playing in the 3. Liga, at Stadion Rote Erde. Until 2005, the team played as Borussia Dortmund Amateure. The team won the Regionalliga West in 2009 and became the second ...

playing in third tier

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

. On 21 July 2012, the first matchday of the 2012–13 season, he came to his debut in professional football in an away game against

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its Association football, football section. The footba ...

, replacing Konstantin Fring from the bench. He scored in the 1–2 home defeat against

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken () is a German Football in Germany, football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. History The club began its existence as the footbal ...

Hamburger SV

In the 2013–14 winter break, he agreed to join

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 ...

on a free transfer in July 2014. After injury issues and several caps for their second team in fourth tier

Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...

, he made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut in the 1–3 home defeat by

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

on 19 April 2014.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

Although performing well in 2014–15 pre-season games, he moved to 2. Bundesliga side

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 a season long loan to in August 2014. There he became a first team regular, starting in 18 matches and being put in another four times.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

upDemirbay with Düsseldorf in 2015 Returning to Hamburg, he again played pre-season, before signing on a season long loan to

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

on 25 August 2015.

1899 Hoffenheim

In June 2016, Demirbay signed for 1899 Hoffenheim on a three-year contract for a reported fee of €1,700,000. He was handed the number 10 shirt. In April 2016, Demirbay scored the all important equalising goal against

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

that earned the club from Sinsheim their first ever European qualification.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 9 May 2019,

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 ...

announced that Demirbay would end his stint at Hoffenheim, and would move to the

BayArena BayArena () is a Association football, football stadium in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which has been the home ground of Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen since 1958. History The stadium was originally known as ''Ulrich-Haber ...

at the start of the summer transfer window in a five-year deal until 30 June 2024. Leverkusen reportedly triggered a release clause in Demirbay's Hoffenheim contract by paying a €32 million or €28 million fee, depending on the source.

Galatasaray

On 1 August 2023,

announced that Demirbay had arrived in Istanbul to complete his permanent transfer to Turkey. On August 3, he signed a 3-year contract with Galatasaray.

will pay €3.7m transfer fee to the former club of the football player

for this transfer.

International career

Youth

Although not having a Turkish passport, Demirbay played international youth football for the

Turkish Football Association The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Footb ...

. In March 2015, he was chosen by Germany U21 coach Horst Hrubesch, but was excluded from games due to injury. He was then selected for

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 20th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international association football, football competition for men's under-21 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tourn ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, but did not play in any of the games.

Senior

150px, Demirbay with Germany during the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Demirbay accepted a callup to the

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team (), recognized as Türkiye by FIFA and UEFA, represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation (), the governing body for ...

on 17 May 2017, for a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

against

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, but rescinded the offer. Later in the same day, Demirbay accepted a callup to the Germany national team for the friendly against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on 6 June 2017, for the 2018 World Cup qualification match against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

on 10 June 2017 and for the 2017 Confederations Cup to be held from 17 June to 2 July 2017. Demirbay made his international debut on 6 June against Denmark, where he was subbed on in the 77th minute for

Leon Goretzka Leon Christoph Goretzka (born 6 February 1995) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich and the Germany national football team, Germany national team. Starting ...

Controversial on-field comments

Demirbay achieved international notoriety for making a sexist comment against female referee Bibiana Steinhaus, in violation of league rules. In November 2015, after being sent off by Steinhaus in a match between Fortuna Düsseldorf and FSV Frankfurt, he told her "women have no place in men's football". Demirbay telephoned Steinhaus after the match to apologise. As a sanction for his behaviour, he was given a five-game ban and was made to referee a junior league girls' football match.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 25 June 2017. Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Demirbay goal.''

Honours

Galatasaray *

: 2023–24, 2024–25 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 2024–25 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Germany *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

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 ...

References

External links

Kerem Demirbay
at the Galatasaray S.K. website * * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demirbay, Kerem 1993 births Living people People from Herten Footballers from Münster (region) German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Borussia Dortmund II players Hamburger SV players Hamburger SV II players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Fortuna Düsseldorf players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players 3. Liga players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players German sportspeople of Turkish descent Galatasaray S.K. footballers Süper Lig players 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen