| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gökhan İnler | ||
| Date of birth | 27 June 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Olten, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Central midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Napoli | ||
| Number | 88 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1998 | Olten | ||
| 1998–2002 | Solothurn | ||
| 2002–2004 | Basel | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2005 | Basel | 0 | (0) |
| 2004 | → Schaffhausen (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Aarau | 25 | (3) |
| 2006–2007 | Zürich | 52 | (3) |
| 2007–2011 | Udinese | 141 | (6) |
| 2011– | Napoli | 12 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006 | Turkey U-21 | 1 | (0) |
| 2006– | Switzerland | 50 | (4) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Gökhan İnler (Turkish: Gökhan İnler,[1] born 27 June 1984 in Olten) is a Swiss football player who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A side Napoli.
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İnler started his career at FC Basel, but was later loaned out to FC Schaffhausen. In the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Turkish champion Fenerbahçe tried İnler and Önder Çengel in the pre-season training camp program in Germany and signed a four-year contract with both of them. However, then coach Christoph Daum declared that both players were not good enough to play for Fenerbahçe. İnler returned to Switzerland and played for FC Aarau. On 20 March 2005, İnler made his Swiss Super League debut in the FC Aarau 2–3 home defeat against Grasshoppers. In January 2006, he was signed by FC Zürich and was part of the 2005–06 and 2006–07 Swiss Championship winning team. At the end of the 2006–07 season, the hardman midfielder agreed to a transfer to Serie A side Udinese despite newly instated Hertha Berlin coach Lucien Favre's interest in the player.
İnler scored his first goal for Udinese in a 2–1 win over Torino F.C.. He scored in the 52nd minute, taking Udinese 2–0 up at the time.[2] On 30 March 2008, İnler scored his second Serie A goal opening the scoring in a 3–1 win over Fiorentina. İnler also set up striker Antonio Di Natale for the winning goal later in the match.[3] In İnler's first season in Italy, he started every game providing 2 goals and 2 assists.[4] İnler and Udinese had a very successful season finishing 7th in Serie A and earning a birth in the first round of the UEFA Cup spot.[5]
On the opening day of the 2008–09 Serie A season, İnler scored the third goal of a 3–1 win over Palermo and provided an assist for one of Di Natale's two goals.[6] On 18 September İnler scored in the first leg of a UEFA Cup qualifying round game against Borussia Dortmund in Germany, that Udinese won 2–0.[7] Udinese lost the home leg 2–0 courtesy of two goals from Tamas Hajnal, but Udinese won in penalties 4–3, with İnler making his.[8] İnler featured in all four of Udinese's group stage games, as they finished first in their group with 9 points.[9][10][11][12] In the Round of 16, İnler started both legs against reigning champions Zenit St. Petersburg, as Udinese won 2–1 on aggregate against the Russians.[13] In the quarterfinal round against Werder Bremen, Udinese lost the first leg 3–1 away from home. But in the second leg, İnler struck early on for the hosts netting a wonderful dipping shot from over 25 yards out.[14] Diego equalized for the Germans before Fabio Quagliarella netted twice before the break to bring the aggregate score to 4–4. However two second half goals for Bremen meant that the hosts crashed out at the quarterfinal stage.[15] İnler's goal against Palermo proved to be his only league goal of the season, but he provided three more assists including one in a stunning 6–2 victory over Cagliari on the final matchday of the season.[16] The win assured that Udinese once again finished 7th in Serie A, this time 5 points behind AS Roma in the last European spot.[17]
Udinese and İnler found the next season much more difficult. The playmaker did not have a successful season following his breakout campaign in the UEFA Cup from the previous year. İnler did not score in 33 Serie A appearances and only provided one assist to Di Natale in a 2–1 loss to champions Internazionale.[18] Udinese only secured their Serie A safety on the penultimate day of the season with a 2–2 draw at Cagliari, which also saw the hosts confirm their Serie A status.[19] Four days later, İnler scored in a 1–1 draw against Italy in an international friendly in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with former teammate Quagliarella scoring for the world champions.[20]
İnler and Udinese continued their bad form to start the 2010–11 Serie A campaign, losing four of their first five games.[4] But things quickly started to turn around for each. Udinese went on a streak of six games without a loss, winning four in a row. İnler set up Antonio Floro Flores to level for the hosts against Cagliari, the game ending in a 1–1 draw on 7 November 2010.[21] Following the winter break, İnler grabbed an assist in Udinese's 2–0 win over Chievo Verona on 6 January 2011.[22] In an enthralling game at the San Siro the next Sunday, İnler provided Di Natale with one of his goals in a 4–4 draw against eventual champions AC Milan.[23] İnler scored his first goal of the campaign in a 3–0 win over Cesena. The result meant that Udinese had not lost in 2011, 8 games, and moved up to sixth in the Serie A standings.[24] Udinese drew their next Games against Brescia, before winning their next four, including a 7–0 thrashing of Palermo away from home.[25] In the thirteenth and final game of their unbeaten streak, İnler scored against Catania in a 2–0 win.[26] After finally losing, 2–0 to Lecce, İnler continued his fine run scoring in a 2–1 win over title chasers Napoli.[27] Udinese drew with Milan on 22 May confirming that they would finish fourth and earn Italy's final Champions League berth, with one game remaining in the season.[28]
Because of his good form in Udinese, helping them finish fourth in the 2010-11 Serie A table and securing a Champions League playoff spot, transfer speculation was rife that İnler would be on the move. In May 2011, Udinese agreed a deal with SSC Napoli in a deal for the player worth €13 million.[29] In July, İnler finally agreed personal terms with Napoli and was unveiled on 11 July, being presented in an unconventional manner, wearing a lion mask to hide his identity and sporting the jersey number of 88.[30] He made his Napoli debut in their 3–1 away win at AC Cesena on 10 September.[31] Inler provided an assist for Federico Fernández in a 3–2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the group stages of the Champions League on 2 November.[32] In the same game, he was involved in a challenge with Bastian Schweinsteiger that resulted in the Germany midfielder requiring surgery for a broken collarbone.[33] On 7 December 2011, Inler scored his first goal for the club, and his first in the Champions League. He opened the scoring with a left-footed drive in a 2-0 away win over Villareal in the final game of the Champions League group stage, in which a win would take them through to the knockout stages of the competition, no matter what the result between Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
İnler is a member of the Swiss national team. On 2 September 2006, he made his international debut in a friendly against Venezuela in Basel.[34] On 16 June 2010 he captained Switzerland against Spain in their group stage match of 2010 FIFA World Cup, a match which Switzerland won 1–0.[35]
| İnler – goals for Switzerland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1. | 22 March 2007 | Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, USA | Jamaica | 2–0 | Win | Friendly match |
| 2. | 3 March 2010 | AFG Arena, St. Gallen, Switzerland | Uruguay | 1–3 | Loss | Friendly match |
| 3. | 5 June 2010 | Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland | Italy | 1–1 | Draw | Friendly match |
| 4. | 12 October 2010 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland | Wales | 4–1 | Win | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Udinese | |||||||||
| 2007–08 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 40 | 2 | |
| 2008–09 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 49 | 3 | |
| 2009–10 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 37 | 1 | |
| 2010–11 | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 36 | 3 | |
| Total | 141 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 162 | 9 | |
| Napoli | |||||||||
| 2011–12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 1 | |
| Total | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 1 | |
Statistics accurate as of match played 7 December 2011[36]
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| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alexander Frei |
Switzerland captain 2011– |
Succeeded by incumbent |