Kaan Ayhan


Kaan Ayhan is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre back as well as operating as a right back for Fortuna Düsseldorf and the Turkish national team.

Club career

Schalke 04

Ayhan joined Schalke 04's youth academy when he was four years old. On 18 January 2012, he signed a professional contract with Schalke 04 that would last until 30 June 2015. Ayhan was assigned a number 24 shirt. Ayhan made his debut against FC Augsburg in a 4–1 win on 5 October 2013, coming on as a substitute for Ádám Szalai. On 3 May 2014, Ayhan scored his first Bundesliga goal in the 13th minute of a 2–0 victory at SC Freiburg.
In January 2016, Ayhan joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan from Schalke for the second half of the season. 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.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

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

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. He was called up by manager Fatih Terim for Turkey's friendly match against Russia on August 31, 2016 and subsequent World Cup 2018 qualifier against Croatia. Kaan Ayhan gave his debut for the Turkish national football team on August, the 31st of 2016 in a friendly against Russia.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.25 March 2019Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir, Turkey4–04–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2.8 June 2019Büyükşehir Stadium, Konya, Turkey1–02–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
3.14 October 2019Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France1–11–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Style of play

Although Ayhan can play in several positions, he is most often used as a central defender.

Statistics

Club

Honours

;Fortuna Düsseldorf
Germany U17