Atakan Karazor (born 13 October 1996) is a 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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 ...

club

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

. Born in Germany, he has opted to play for the Turkey national team. He began his senior career at

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 ...

in the

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. ...

before playing for

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., commonly known as Holstein Kiel () or KSV Holstein, is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s through the 1960s, the club was o ...

for two seasons in the 2. Bundesliga. In 2019, he joined Stuttgart, where he won promotion to the Bundesliga in his first season.

Club career

Early years

Born in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Karazor played as a youth for local

Schwarz-Weiß Essen Schwarz-Weiß Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The side has its origins in the gymnastics club ''Essener Turnerbund'' founded in 1881. A football department was formed in January 1900 and this b ...

and

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

. In 2015, Karazor joined

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 ...

, where he made his senior debut with the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in the

, playing 59 games over two seasons and scoring on 4 October 2015 in a 2–0 win at 1. FC Köln II.

Holstein Kiel

In June 2017, Karazor left his native region and signed for

in the 2. Bundesliga on a three-year deal. He injured his ankle ligaments in pre-season, recovering to make the squad in November, before making his professional debut on 23 January by starting in a 2–2 home draw with

1. FC Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was founded. During the Co ...

. He scored his first professional goals in 2018–19, equalising in a draw of the same score against

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following r ...

at the Holstein-Stadion on 17 February, and in a 1–1 draw away to

FC Ingolstadt 04 Fußballclub Ingolstadt 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingolsta ...

on 14 April.

VfB Stuttgart

In May 2019, it was announced Karazor would move to

on a contract until 2023. The transfer fee paid to Kiel was reported as about €1 million or €800,000. He played 23 games in his first season as the team won promotion to the

as runners-up, and he scored twice on 21 June 2020 in a 6–0 win at 1. FC Nürnberg. Karazor made his top-flight debut on 3 October 2020 in a 1–1 draw at home to

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. ...

, as an 84th-minute substitute for

Daniel Didavi Daniel Didavi (born 21 February 1990) is a former German professional footballer. Club career Didavi started his career with SpV 05 Nürtingen. He was scouted in summer 2003 by VfB Stuttgart, and he was promoted to the first team in July 2009. ...

. On 24 October the following year, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for the first time in his career in a game of the same score against Union Berlin at the Mercedes-Benz Arena for two yellow cards in the space of 35 seconds. On 19 May 2022, Karazor extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until June 2026. He returned to training and playing after his arrest and bail in Spain over the summer; the decision for the club to play him was endorsed by

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

Sven Mislintat who cited the

presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person Accused (law), accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilt (law), guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the Prosecut ...

. On 12 June 2024, Karazor and VfB Stuttgart extended his contract with the club until June 2028. In the summer of 2024, he became the new

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of VfB Stuttgart.

International career

Karazor is eligible 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 ...

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 ...

at international level, and ended up choosing the latter. On 14 March 2025, Karazor was called up by

Vincenzo Montella Vincenzo Montella (; born 18 June 1974) is an Italian association football, football manager and former striker (association football), striker. He is the current head coach of the Turkey national football team. Montella's nickname during his p ...

to the Turkey national team for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Personal life

Born in Germany, Karazor is of Turkish descent. On 11 June 2022, VfB Stuttgart confirmed via the club's website that Karazor had been arrested while on holiday in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

on accounts of sexually assaulting an 18 year old woman. He was

remanded in custody Pre-trial detention, also known as jail, preventive detention, provisional detention, or remand, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is ...

while investigations continue; Spanish law permits a maximum of two years' pre-trial detention. On 21 July, he was released after paying €50,000 in bail and permitted to leave Spain, due to Germany's law enforcement cooperation with Spain and his professional career presenting a low risk of absconding to a third country.

Career statistics

Honours

VfB Stuttgart *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2024–25

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karazor, Atakan 1996 births Living people Footballers from Essen Turkish men's footballers German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Borussia Dortmund II players Holstein Kiel players Holstein Kiel II players VfB Stuttgart players VfB Stuttgart II players Regionalliga players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players German sportspeople of Turkish descent 21st-century German sportsmen