Can Erdem

Can Erdem — Biography

Can Erdem is a Turkish former footballer, born on June 8, 1987, in the Şişli district of Istanbul, who played as a striker. He started out at Alanya Belediyespor in Antalya before joining Beşiktaş's academy in 2005 and being promoted to the club's reserve side by the end of that year. He scored the winning goal in his reserve-team debut on March 29, 2006, and was brought into the first team by manager Jean Tigana, making his senior Beşiktaş appearance against Gaziantepspor on February 4, 2007; he was part of the Beşiktaş squad that won the Turkish Cup that season.

He spent 2007-08 on loan at Kocaelispor, who were promoted that season, and the following year on loan at Altay. Back with Beşiktaş's reserves in 2009-10, he finished as the league's top scorer before being loaned out again, to Siirtspor, mid-season. With no first-team future at Beşiktaş, he signed a two-year deal with First League side Denizlispor, scoring 5 goals in 30 league matches over a season and a half and spending part of that spell on loan at Turgutluspor. He moved to Mersin İdmanyurdu in 2012 and, in 2013, to Ankaraspor A.Ş., the club later known as Osmanlıspor. He joined Karşıyaka in 2014, where he was one of the team's leading scorers in 2017 and signed a new contract in 2020; later in his career he also played for Kırşehir Belediyespor. He won a single Turkey under-21 cap, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Albania on January 17, 2007.