Jem Karacan

Jem Karacan

Karacan representing Turkey under-21s in 2010
Personal information
Full nameJem Paul Karacan[1]
Date of birth21 February 1989
Place of birthCatford, London, England
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Reading
Number21
Youth career
1996–2003Wimbledon
2003–2007Reading
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2007–Reading149(11)
2007–2008→ Bournemouth (loan)13(1)
2008→ Millwall (loan)7(0)
National team‡
2006Turkey U175(0)
2006Turkey U186(2)
2006–2008Turkey U1910(0)
2008–2011Turkey U213(0)
2012–Turkey A21(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:26, 19 March 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2012

Jem Paul Karacan (Turkish: Cem Karacan, IPA: [ˈdʒem kaɾaˈdʒan]; born 21 February 1989) is a professional footballer who plays for and captains Reading as a midfielder. He has played internationally for the Turkish youth team, and has captained the U-21 side.

Early life

Karacan was born in Catford, London to a Turkish Cypriot father and an English mother.[2] Between the ages of seven and fourteen he played for the now defunct Wimbledon and left after they relocated to Milton Keynes. He had been offered a four-year contract at the club his father supported, Galatasaray, but refused citing language difficulties, "I couldn't go out there at only 14, not speaking the language and so on".[3] Karacan joined Reading's Youth Academy instead, having been spotted playing against the Royals while on trial at Manchester United.

Club career

On 6 July 2007, he signed a two-year professional contract with Reading,[4] and made his debut against Luton Town on 26 August in the League Cup, getting on the scoresheet.

Karacan joined Bournemouth on loan, initially for one month, on 18 October 2007.[5] Karacan was put into the starting XI for Bournemouth on 20 October away to Millwall, where he made his league debut in Bournemouth's 2–1 defeat.[6] His loan was subsequently extended to 6 January 2008.[7] Karacan signed a further loan deal in the 2007–08 season on 20 March 2008, this time to Football League One side Millwall, which was originally due to run until 19 April 2008,[8] but was extended to the end of the 2007–08 season.[9]

He scored against Aston Villa in a pre season match before the 2008–09 season, and scored his first professional goal for Reading in a League Cup win over Luton Town on 26 August 2008.[10] Towards the end of 2008, he began to start a few matches after impressing in the reserves and following injuries to James Harper and Marek Matejovsky. He signed a new 2 and half-year contract in October 2008, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2010–11 season. He scored his first league goal in Reading's 2–2 draw with Blackpool FC on 13 April 2009, in the Championship.[11] On 20 August 2011, Karacan made his 100th appearance in all competitions for Reading against Barnsley in a 2–1 defeat. During Reading's 2–0 victory over Leeds United on 6 April, Karacan suffered a broken ankle after a tackle by Michael Brown.[12][13] He signed a new contract on 19 September 2012 keeping him at the club until June 2015.[14] On 4 May 2013 Karacan scored his first Premier League goal with a low shot into the bottom corner in Reading's 4–2 away win against Fulham.[15]

He began the 2013–14 season in good goalscoring form, netting twice in a 3–3 draw against Watford on 17 August.[16] A month later he again suffered a serious injury in a game against Leeds and had to be substituted after nine minutes.[17] The club later confirmed that he had ruptured both his anterior cruciate and medial ligaments and would be out for six to nine months.[18][19] After more than a year out, entered the final part of his recovery in October 2014. [20]

For the 2014-15 season, Karacan changed his squad number to 21, due to his admiration for Italian maestro Andrea Pirlo.[21] He made a brief return from his injury nightmare on 10 January 2015, coming on as a late substitute against Middlesbrough,[22] but another setback kept him out for a further two months. He scored a consolation goal from 20 yards on 14 March, after replacing Jake Taylor as a second half substitute in a 4-1 defeat at Vicarage Road, in his second appearance of the season.[23]

International career

Born to a Turkish father and English mother, Karacan is eligible to represent both countries at international level. He chose to represent Turkey and has captained them at youth level. He made his debut for the under-21s as a substitute against Armenia in August 2008,[3] before making his first appearance for the A2 team when they beat Estonia 5–0 in March 2012.[24] Karacan received his first senior call-up for Turkey on 13 October 2012,[25] for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Hungary, but was an unused substitute.[26]

Career statistics

As of match played 14 March 2015.[27]
Jem Karacan in Reading's away kit contests with Bryan Ruiz for the ball
Karacan playing for Reading in 2013.
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Reading 2007–08 Premier League 000000— 00
2008–09 Championship 151101100 172
2009–10 2704000— 310
2010–11 40330203[lower-alpha 1]0 483
2011–12 3730000— 373
2012–13 Premier League 2113020— 261
2013–14 Championship 72000000 72
2014–15 21000000 21
Total 149111105130 16812
Bournemouth (loan) 2007–08 League One 13131001[lower-alpha 2]0 172
Millwall (loan) 2007–08 70000000 70
Career total 167111415140 19013
  1. ↑ Appearances in the Championship play-offs
  2. ↑ Appearance in the Football League Trophy

Honours

Reading

Personal life

Karacan received his primary education at Colfe's School in Lee Green, before spending his senior years at the Riverston School of Eltham in London. His roommate on away trips was Joseph Mills.

References

  1. ↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. ↑ Zaman. "İngiliz futbolu,Kıbrıs Türklerini keşfetti!". Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Jem Karacan: my story". Reading F.C. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Royals make six Academy signings". Reading F.C. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  5. ↑ "Bournemouth sign Karacan on loan". BBC Sport. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  6. ↑ "Millwall 2–1 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 20 October 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  7. ↑ "Another cracker from Henry". Reading F.C. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
  8. ↑ "Karacan loaned to Millwall". Reading F.C. 20 March 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  9. ↑ "Karacan loan deal extended". Reading F.C. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  10. ↑ "Reading 5–1 Luton". BBC Sport. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  11. ↑ "Blackpool 2–2 Reading". BBC Sport. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  12. ↑ "Karacan season over with broken ankle". Reading F.C. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  13. ↑ "Jem: I'll be back better and stronger". Reading F.C. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  14. ↑ "Karacan extends contract". Reading FC. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Fulham 2–4 Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "Reading 3–3 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  17. ↑ "Reading 1–0 Leeds United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  18. ↑ "Karacan update". Reading F.C. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  19. ↑ Watts, Charles (29 September 2013). "Karacan: I knew straight away my season was over". Reading Post. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "Jem Karacan: Reading skipper close to ending injury nightmare". www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  21. ↑ "Squad numbers confirmed". http://www.readingfc.co.uk''. Reading F.C. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  22. ↑ www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 14 14 March 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30663415. Retrieved 14 March 2015. Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ↑ www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 14 14 March 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31776038. Retrieved 14 March 2015. Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ↑ "International Round-Up". Vital Reading. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  25. ↑ "Jem wins call-up!". Reading F.C. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  26. ↑ "Hungary vs. Turkey 3 – 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  27. ↑ "Jem Karacan career statistics". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 April 2013.

External links

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