Eren Derdiyok

Eren Derdiyok — Biography

Eren Derdiyok is a Basel-born striker who, although he also holds Turkish citizenship, chose to play for Switzerland and won 60 caps between 2008 and 2018. He won a league and cup double at FC Basel, reached double figures in Bundesliga goals at Bayer Leverkusen and won the Turkish Super Cup with Galatasaray. He retired in January 2024, and in August 2026 he was put in charge of Galatasaray's under-17 side.

Having come up through the Old Boys academy to the first team, Derdiyok drew attention with a goal against Basel in the Swiss Cup, and Christian Gross persuaded him to join FC Basel. In 2007-08 he won the Swiss league and cup, scored the opening goal of the cup final and was named the season's best young player; in 2008-09 he scored the equalizer against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. In 2009 he signed a four-year contract with Leverkusen and formed the striking pair with Stefan Kießling. He then played for Hoffenheim and Kasımpaşa and moved to Galatasaray on August 5, 2016, scoring a 93rd-minute header against Kardemir Karabükspor. He also played for Göztepe, Pakhtakor Tashkent, MKE Ankaragücü and FC Schaffhausen.

In his first match for Switzerland, on February 6, 2008, against England, he scored the team's only goal; at Euro 2008 he was the youngest player of the tournament, he played all three group games at the 2010 World Cup. After retiring he started his coaching career as an assistant at FC Schaffhausen.