Kerim Çalhanoğlu

Kerim Çalhanoğlu — Biography

Kerim Çalhanoğlu is a German footballer of Turkish descent who plays mainly as a left-back and has also been used in midfield. Long introduced as the cousin of international Hakan Çalhanoğlu, he has built his own career in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga. In July 2026 he signed a 2+1 year contract with Süper Lig side Gaziantep FK.

He started out in Mannheim, in the youth sections of SC Pfingstberg-Hochstätt and VfL Neckarau, moved to Waldhof Mannheim in 2015 and a year later to the youth teams of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. In the summer of 2020 he joined Schalke 04's under-19 side and that September signed a professional contract running to 2024. He made his Bundesliga debut on March 5, 2021, starting at home against Mainz 05, and shared in Schalke's 2. Bundesliga success of 2021-22. In December 2022 he went on loan to Sandhausen for the second half of the season, and in June 2023 agreed to join Greuther Fürth. From September 2025 he has played in Croatia for HNK Vukovar 1991.

At youth international level he first represented Turkey and then switched to Germany. He played three matches for the Turkey under-16 side in 2017, then moved to Germany's under-16 and under-17 teams the following year. At the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Ireland he played all three of Germany's games, though the team went out in the group stage. In 2020 he made two appearances for the under-19s. His younger brother Turan has also played for German youth teams, and his cousins Hakan and Muhammed are footballers too.