Serkan Kadir Yusein (; born 31 March 1996) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n 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

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 Arda Kardzhali and the Bulgaria national team.

Career

Early career and Botev Plovdiv

Born in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

, Yusein started to play football in the Botev 2002 Academy, before joining the youth formations of

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

. He began his professional career in

on 13 March 2013, when he debuted as a substitute in an away match against

Minyor Pernik FC Minyor () is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, currently competing in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The club's name comes ...

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. Serkan was included for the first time in the starting lineup of

during a goalless draw with

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

on 11 May 2014. Yusein scored his first goal for Botev Plovdiv on 23 September 2014. He came on as a substitute during the match and scored the last goal for the 0–4 away win against

Lokomotiv Mezdra FC Lokomotiv Mezdra (ФК Локомотив Мездра) was a Bulgarian football club from the town of Mezdra, which last played in the A RFG Vratsa, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground was the Lokomotiv Stadium i ...

in the first round of the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

tournament. A few days later, on 27 September, he came on as a substitute during the derby match with

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

which was won 2–0 by Botev Plovdiv. On 14 December Serkan played 57 minutes and left good impression on the pitch during Botev's 1-0 defeat by

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

2015–16 season

Serkan was injured for the first two rounds of the 2015-16 season of the

A Group The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

. Following recovery, he took part in the games against

Pirin Blagoevgrad Football club Pirin (), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the Second League, the second division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 2008, after a merger ...

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...

and

Cherno More Varna Cherno More () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on 3 March 1913, as an association football branch ...

. After being ruled out again due to injury, Serkan was included in the starting line-up on 30 October, when

were defeated 2-0 by

2016–17 season

On 27 August, Serkan scored his first goal in the First League during the 2–1 home victory over

PFC Neftochimic Burgas Neftochimic () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Burgas, which currently competes in Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria), Third League, the third tier of the Bulgarian football league system. The team plays its h ...

. On 17 September Serkan scored again, this time during the 4–0 home win over

FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa Lokomotiv () is a Bulgarian association football club based in Gorna Oryahovitsa, which currently competes in the Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football. Established in 1932 as a sports association of the railway workers in the ...

. On 22 October 2016 Serkan scored during the 2–3 home defeat from

. On 24 May 2017, Serkan came on as a substitute in last minutes of the historical 2–1 win over

in the

final and won the cup with

2017–18 season

On 13 July 2017, Serkan scored an important goal for the 1–1 away draw with

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club (), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply Beitar (), is an Israeli professional football club based in the city of Jerusalem, that plays in the Israeli Premier League, the top tier in Israeli football ...

in the 2nd qualifying round of

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. On 9 December 2017, Serkan scored a spectacular goal for the 3–0 win over

Etar Veliko Tarnovo Etar () is a Bulgarian sports football club based in Veliko Tarnovo, that plays in the Bulgarian Second League, the second level of Bulgarian football. Etar was established in 2013, shortly after the folding of Etar 1924, which was dissolved ...

. A few minutes after that he was sent off. His goal was highlighted as the best goal of the round in Parva Liga.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 7 January 2019,

confirmed that Yusein had signed a preliminary contract under the

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of associati ...

and is set to join the team as a free agent in June 2019 if the negotiations between Botev and Ludogorets in January didn't end with a transfer agreement, but on 23 January both teams reached agreement and Yusein joined the team for an undisclosed fee.

Krumovgrad

In June 2023, Yusein joined newly promoted

Krumovgrad Krumovgrad ( , ) is a town in Kardzhali Province in the south of Bulgaria, located in the Eastern Rhodopes on the banks of the river Krumovitsa. According to 2011 census, the population is ethnic Bulgarians (48.97%), ethnic Turks (18.95%), and o ...

International career

Yusein received his first call up for the

on 12 November for the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

matches against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

on 15 November 2020 and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

on 18 November. He made his debut on 4 June 2024 in a friendly against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;Botev Plovdiv *

(1): 2016–17 *

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...

(1):

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 ...

;Ludogorets Razgrad *

First Professional Football League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

(1): 2018–19 *

(1):

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yusein, Serkan 1996 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian people of Turkish descent Men's association football midfielders Botev Plovdiv players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players FC Tsarsko Selo Sofia players FC CSKA 1948 Sofia players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players FC Krumovgrad players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen