Kaan Ayhan

Kaan Ayhan — Biography

Kaan Ayhan is a defender who was born in Germany, came up through Schalke 04's academy and chose to represent the Turkey national team. He plays mainly as a center-back and can also operate in defensive midfield and at full-back. He joined Galatasaray on loan in January 2023, has won four Süper Lig titles since 2022-23, and became one of the club's captains.

He started at Schalke at a young age, stayed in the club's youth system for 17 years and signed a professional contract in January 2012. He made his Bundesliga debut against Augsburg on October 5, 2013; by the end of that season he had scored his first goal, against Freiburg, and made his first Champions League start, against Real Madrid. He was loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt in 2016, moved to Fortuna Düsseldorf that August and won the 2. Bundesliga with them in 2017-18, then joined Sassuolo in 2020. At Galatasaray he won the 2023 Super Cup and the 2024-25 Turkish Cup.

He played for Germany's youth teams, finishing runner-up at the 2011 European Under-17 Championship and third at the Under-17 World Cup. In October 2013 he joined Turkey's under-21 squad, and on August 31, 2016, he made his senior debut under Fatih Terim in a friendly against Russia. He was in the squad for UEFA Euro 2024, and at the 2026 World Cup he scored the winning goal in the last minute of the 3-2 win over the United States.