turkish football player

Merih Demiral ( hold 5 March 1998 ) is a turkish professional football player who plays as a centre-back for Serie A clubhouse Atalanta, on loan from Serie A baseball club Juventus, and the Turkey national team .

Club career [edit ]

early years [edit ]

A product of the Fenerbahçe youth system, Demiral was signed by portuguese side Alcanenense in 2016. [ 2 ]

In January 2017, he was loaned out to Sporting B, and made his professional debut in the Segunda Liga for the latter club on 5 February 2017 in a 1–1 home withdraw against Famalicão. [ 3 ] At the end of the season, he was signed outright by the club. [ 4 ] On 15 August 2018, he joined turkish club Alanyaspor on loanword. [ 5 ] On 29 January 2019, he permanently joined Alanyaspor for €3.5 million. [ 6 ]

Sassuolo [edit ]

On 30 January 2019, Demiral joined italian Serie A club Sassuolo on lend with an debt instrument to buy. [ 7 ] He made his Serie A and club debut on 24 February, in a 1–1 family puff against SPAL, [ 8 ] and scored his first goals, both for the golf club and in Serie A—a brace in a 4–0 dwelling succeed over Chievo —on 4 April. [ 9 ]

Juventus [edit ]

On 5 July 2019, Juventus officially announced the remove of Demiral from Sassuolo, on a five-year contract for €18 million. [ 10 ] His wage was reportedly blossom as € 1.3 million per year. [ 11 ] He became the inaugural Turkish musician to play for the club. [ 12 ] He made his golf club debut on 21 September, in a 2–1 home win over Verona in Serie A. [ 13 ] He subsequently made his Champions League debut on 11 December, in the cabaret ‘s final examination group match, earning praise in the media for his operation as he helped Juventus keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 aside win over Bayer Leverkusen. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] He scored his foremost goal for the club on 12 January 2020, the opener in a 2–1 away win over Roma, which saw Juventus secure the unofficial entitle of “ Winter Champions ”, though he was late substituted for Matthijs de Ligt after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury. As a result, he was expected to be ruled out for the end of the season, including euro 2020. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] He returned to action on 1 August, featuring as a substitute in Juventus ‘ 3–1 home defeat to Roma in Serie A, with Juventus already confirmed as league champions. [ 19 ]

loanword to Atalanta [edit ]

On 6 August 2021, Atalanta announced the sign of Demiral from Juventus on loan with an choice to buy. [ 20 ]

International career [edit ]

Demiral represented Turkey at junior levels, including Under-17 and Under-19. He made his debut for the senior police squad on 20 November 2018 in a friendly against Ukraine, as an 85th-minute substitute for Mert Müldür. [ 21 ] On 11 June 2021, Demiral scored an own finish in a 3–0 frustration against Italy in the first game of the UEFA Euro 2020 campaign ; it was the first time in the tournament ‘s history that the peer opener kicked off with an own finish. [ 22 ]

stylus of bring [edit ]

Demiral is normally deployed as a centre-back, in either a three or four-man defense, although he is a versatile player, who is besides capable of playing as a right-sided full-back. [ 23 ] An aggressive and natural defender, his independent traits are his animalism, tactical intelligence, tackling, composure, and determination, which allow to excel at read plays, and besides enable him to anticipate or mark his opponents well. [ 23 ] A tall and physically impregnable defender, he is besides known for his ability in the breeze, which enables him to defend opposing crosses and clear the ball away from his own penalty sphere. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] Despite his grandiloquent stature and enforce physique, he is besides a mobile defender, which allows him to make recoveries, win back the ball effectively, or restrict his opponents ‘ movements when defending off the ball. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] Regarded as a promise young defender in the media, due to his characteristics, he has been compared to Nemanja Vidić, whom Demiral himself has besides cited as an divine guidance. [ 25 ] Another one of his influences is his Juventus teammate Giorgio Chiellini, to whom he has besides been compared. [ 23 ] He has besides been likened to former Juventus defender Paolo Montero. [ 26 ]

controversy [edit ]

On 11 October 2019, following Cenk Tosun ‘s goal in a 1–0 base winnings over Albania in a Euro 2020 qualifier, Demiral was one of the turkish players who participated in a controversial “ military salute “ goal celebration. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] The lapp day, he stated his assailable documentation for the turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria on Twitter ; while his post was praised by turkish supporters of the country ‘s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it besides drew criticism from numerous football fans of Juventus on social media, ampere well as those of other clubs, some of whom asked for the club to take disciplinary actions against the musician ; others even demanded that Demiral be dismissed by the club. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] [ 32 ] [ 33 ]

personal life [edit ]

On 1 April 2021, it was announced that Demiral tested convinced for COVID-19 amid its pandemic in Italy ; [ 34 ] he had recovered by 6 April. [ 35 ]

career statistics [edit ]

clubhouse [edit ]

As of match played 4 December 2021[36]

International [edit ]

As of match played 16 November 2021[36][37]
National team Year Apps Goals
Turkey 2018 1 0
2019 11 0
2020 7 0
2021 12 1
Total 31 1

Honours [edit ]

Juventus
Turkey U20

References [edit ]