Semih Kaya (, born 24 February 1991) is a Turkish former 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 played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, most recently for

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 ...

. On 12 August 2022, he announced on his social media accounts that he was leaving football.

Club career

Early career

Kaya joined Galatasaray's youth academy from Altay's youth team when he was 15. On 25 February 2007, when he was playing against older young players in the season of Süper Gençler Ligi (Super Youth League) against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

, in the fifth minute of the game, a kick from

Batuhan Karadeniz Batuhan Karadeniz (born 24 April 1991) is a former Turkish professional footballer. Started his career at İçerenköy Spor Kulübü at the age of 10, Karadeniz rose to fame at Süper Lig club Beşiktaş, where he player in youth levels between ...

collided with his head, forcing him to leave the game; he later went to a hospital to undergo head surgery (

coagulation Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a thrombus, blood clot. It results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The process of co ...

). Kaya's first

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 ...

appearance was against İstanbul B.B. on 19 February 2009. After not receiving significant playing time, he joined fellow Süper Lig club

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matc ...

on loan in January 2010 for the remainder of the season. In the summer of 2010, he signed for Turkish First League side

Kartalspor Kartalspor is a sports club located in the Kartal district of Istanbul, Turkey. The club's football team plays in the Bank Asya First League after finishing 2nd in the Second League Promotion Group in the 2006–2007 season. Kartal SK started t ...

on loan. On 18 October 2010, he scored two goals in the A2 Lig game against Altay.

Return to Galatasaray

At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Kaya was not typically selected for Galatasaray's starting line-up, but following injuries to other players, notably

Gökhan Zan Gökhan Zan (born 7 September 1981) is a Turkish former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Club career Zan was born in Antakya. He started his career with Hatayspor and then moved on to Çanakkale Dardane ...

, and a fall in form of Servet Çetin, Galatasaray 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 ...

granted him a chance to prove himself. Following a series of solid performances, he soon became first-choice centreback alongside the Czech

Tomáš Ujfaluši Tomáš Ujfaluši (, born 24 March 1978) is a Czech former professional Association football, footballer. He operated as either a central defender or a Right back (association football), right-back. Initially beginning his career with SK Sigma Ol ...

. Kaya scored his first goal for the club against

Samsunspor Samsunspor Kulübü, officially known as Samsunspor Football Club Joint Stock Company, or as Reeder Samsunspor due to sponsorship agreements, is a Turkey, Turkish Football club (association football), professional football club that competes in t ...

on 7 January 2012 in the 51st minute of a 2–0 comeback, with the game ending 4–2 for Galatasaray. In the 2011–12 season, he played 30 games and was a key member of the championship-winning squad. He continued to be first choice centre-back for the club and country, delivering calm and confident performances despite against top teams such as

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and, internationally, against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He finished his second year with 36 appearances in all competitions. On 18 November 2013, his contract was extended for three years until 2016. In June 2014

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

was reportedly interested in Kaya.

Sparta Prague

On 14 July 2017, Kaya left Galatasaray and joined Czech club

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

, signing a three-year contract. He was loaned to Galatasaray on 18 January 2019, for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, with the Turkish club covering his wages. On 13 July 2020, Sparta Prague announced the departure of Kaya, after an injury-plagued spell 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 ...

Yeni Malatyaspor

On 29 September 2020, Kaya joined

Yeni Malatyaspor Yeni Malatyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Malatya. The club plays in the TFF First League, which is the second tier of football in the country. History Founded in 1986 as Malatya Belediyespor. Its primary colo ...

as a free agent. He left the club on 31 January 2022 on a mutual contract termination.

Galatasaray – third spell

On 3 February 2022, Kaya joined Galatasaray for the third time in his career. On 12 August 2022, he announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Kaya has played for all levels of the Turkey national team, including the under-21 level despite being at a younger age at the time. He made his debut for senior Turkish side on 29 February 2012, playing the entire game against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

in a 2–1 loss. He is part of the Turkey national team for

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

Personal life

Kaya's grandfather was Torbesh and he emigrated from

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

to the Turkish city of

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

. He is the youngest of three brothers.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Galatasaray *

: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2018–19 * Türkiye Kupası: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2018–19 * Süper Kupa:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Sparta Prag *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 1961. The winner ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaya, Semih 1991 births Living people People from Bergama Footballers from İzmir Province Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Macedonian Turks Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers Galatasaray U21 footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Gaziantepspor footballers Kartal S.K. footballers Süper Lig players Turkish people of Macedonian descent Men's association football central defenders UEFA Euro 2016 players AC Sparta Prague players Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Turkish expatriate men's footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Czech First League players Yeni Malatyaspor footballers 21st-century Turkish sportsmen