Özkan Yıldırım

Özkan Yıldırım — Biography

Özkan Yıldırım is a German-Turkish attacking midfielder who came through Werder Bremen's academy to the Bundesliga and later continued his career in the lower leagues of Turkey. He played for Germany's youth national teams and, although injuries kept him out for long spells, appeared in the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga.

He began at his hometown club TuS Sulingen and moved to Werder Bremen at ten. Rising through Bremen's youth sides he reached the semi-final of the German junior cup with the under-19s in 2011 and signed a professional contract that year, but a cracked shinbone followed by a meniscus problem kept him out for about a year and a half. He made his first Bundesliga appearance as a substitute against Borussia Dortmund on January 19, 2013. On May 14, 2016, he returned from injury in the match in which Werder beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 to stay up. That June he signed a two-year contract with Fortuna Düsseldorf and in 2017 another two-year deal with Eintracht Braunschweig, leaving when Braunschweig dropped into the 3. Liga. Without a club in 2018, he had a trial at Darmstadt 98 that led to no deal.

In January 2020 he came to Turkey and joined Menemenspor, then played for Hekimoğlu Trabzon; in 2023 he signed with Menemen FK, and he has also played for 68 Aksaray Belediyespor in the TFF 2. Lig. He appeared for Germany at youth levels from under-15 to under-21.