Emre Can

This article is about the footballer. For the chess player, see Emre Can (chess player).
Not to be confused with Emre Can Coşkun.
Emre Can

Can training with Liverpool in 2014
Personal information
Full nameEmre Can[1]
Date of birth12 January 1994
Place of birthFrankfurt, Germany
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)[2]
Playing positionMidfielder / Defender
Club information
Current team
Liverpool
Number23
Youth career
2000–2006SV Blau-Gelb Frankfurt
2006–2009Eintracht Frankfurt
2009–2011Bayern Munich
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2011–2013Bayern Munich II31(3)
2012–2013Bayern Munich4(1)
2013–2014Bayer Leverkusen29(3)
2014–Liverpool23(1)
National team‡
2009Germany U151(0)
2009–2010Germany U168(2)
2010–2011Germany U1722(3)
2012–2013Germany U195(0)
2013–Germany U219(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:41, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

Emre Can (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈɛmrɛ ˈd͡ʒɑn], born 12 January 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays for English club Liverpool as a central midfielder. A versatile player, Can can also play as a defensive midfielder, centre-back or full-back.

He began his career at Bayern Munich, playing mostly in its reserve side before transferring to Bayer Leverkusen in 2013. A season later, he was signed by Liverpool for £9.75 million.


Can has represented Germany from Under-15 to Under-21 level.

Club career

Bayern Munich

Can had mainly played as a midfielder for Bayern Munich II in the Regionalliga Bayern. He made his debut for Bayern's first team in the 2012 DFL-Supercup and his Bundesliga debut against 1. FC Nürnberg on 13 April 2013. His first and only league goal came on 27 April 2013 in a 1–0 home win over SC Freiburg.[3]

Bayer Leverkusen

On 2 August 2013, Can signed a four-year deal with Bayer Leverkusen which included a buy-back clause for Bayern Munich. The move was to ensure Can got first-team football under his belt before ideally being re-signed by the Bayern in the future. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge pointed out Bayern's past successes in loaning out young players for purposes of gaining experience such as first team member Toni Kroos had at Leverkusen, captain Philipp Lahm at Stuttgart and full back David Alaba at 1899 Hoffenheim.[4] In his first and only season at Leverkusen, Can netted four goals and notched up four assists, while largely operating in a defensive capacity. Can's performances while at Leverkusen sparked interest from Liverpool, who noted Can's performances in both the Bundesliga and Champions League, the latter in which he made his debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford which ended 4–2 in the favour of the Manchester side.

Liverpool

Can playing against Chelsea in January 2015.

On 5 June 2014, it was confirmed by Bayer Leverkusen that Can would join Premier League runners up, Liverpool on 1 July after the Merseyside club activated his £9.75 million (€12 million) release clause. Manager Brendan Rodgers said in a press conference later in the week that Can was an "inspirational young talent". Many football experts have compared him to fellow German midfielders Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger, because of his ability to attack and defend in the midfield position.[5] The move was completed on 3 July 2014.[6]

Can was called up for a competitive Liverpool match for the first time on 17 August, an unused substitute as they began their league campaign with a 2–1 home win over Southampton.[7] He made his competitive debut for Liverpool in an away defeat against Manchester City on 25 August, coming on as a substitute for Joe Allen after 75 minutes and receiving a booking in a 3–1 defeat.[8] While on duty with the German under-21s, Can was injured and was sidelined up to six weeks. On 19 October, he made his first start for Liverpool in a 3–2 win against Queens Park Rangers. Can scored his first Liverpool goal on 8 November with a long-range shot past Thibaut Courtois to open the scoring against Chelsea, although the opponents eventually won 1–2.[9]

Against the same opponent in a League Cup semi-final defeat on 27 January 2015, Can was stamped on by Chelsea forward Diego Costa. Referee Michael Oliver did not penalise the incident, but Costa was retrospectively banned for three matches by the FA.[10] Can was sent off for two bookings in Liverpool's 1–4 loss to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on 4 April.[11]

International career

Youth

Can received call-ups for the German U15, U16 and U17 youth football teams. In 2011, Can captained the U17 World Cup campaign and led his team to the semi-finals. During the FIFA U17 World Cup semi-final, Can netted a superb solo goal against Mexico. He received the ball with three markers closing in on him, skipped past one and paced forward before escaping two other opponents and evading the goalkeeper. Germany were defeated 3–2, but the dynamic midfielder also set up his side's opener.

Due to his Turkish ancestry, Can would also be eligible to play for the Turkey national football team, but he stated he "likes playing for Germany very much, and wants to make it in the DFB".[12][13][14]

Career statistics

Club

As of 28 April 2015[15]
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
League Cup League Cup UEFA Total
2012–13Bayern MunichBundesliga4120—0061
Total 4120—0061
2013–14Bayer LeverkusenBundesliga29331—70394
Total 29331—70394
2014–15LiverpoolPremier League231603040361
Total 231603040361
Career total 56511130110816

Honours

Club

Bayern Munich[16][17]

References

  1. ↑ "Barclays Premier League: notification of shirt numbers" (PDF). Premier League. p. 11. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Official club website Liverpool FC Emre Can". web page. The Liverpool Football Club. 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  3. ↑ Mayer-Lodge, Christopher (27 April 2013). "Much-changed Bayern sink Freiburg". Bundesliga. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Emre Can wechselt nach Leverkusen" (in German). Bayern Munich. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Smith, Ben (5 June 2014). "Emre Can: Liverpool agree to sign Bayer Leverkusen midfielder". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Liverpool complete Emre Can transfer". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Liverpool 2–1 Southampton". BBC Sport. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  8. ↑ McNulty, Phil (25 August 2014). "Man City 3–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  9. ↑ McNulty, Phil (8 November 2014). "Liverpool 1–2 Chelsea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Diego Costa: Chelsea striker gets three-match ban for stamp". BBC Sport. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  11. ↑ McNulty, Phil (4 April 2015). "Arsenal 4-1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Emre Can: Ich will für Deutschland spielen!" [Emre Can: I want to play for Germany!] (in German). tz-online.de. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "Nach Samed Yesil bekennt sich auch Emre Can zu Deutschland" [After Samed Yesil also Emre Can declares for Germany] (in German). Deutsch-tuerkische-nachrichten.de. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  14. ↑ ""Platz 3 gibt mir Selbstvertrauen für Bayern"" ["Place 3 gives me self-confidence for Bayern"]. Sport1.de. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "Can, Emre" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Emre Can" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "Die Bayern holen den ersten Titel der Saison" (in German). kicker.de. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2014.

External links

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