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Kenan Yıldız

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Kenan Yıldız
Yıldız with Turkey in 2025
Personal information
Full name Kenan Yıldız[1]
Date of birth (2005-05-04) 4 May 2005 (age 21)[1]
Place of birth Regensburg, Germany
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Positions
Team information
Current team
 Juventus
Number 10
Youth career
2010–2011 Sallern Regensburg
2011–2012 Jahn Regensburg
2012–2022 Bayern Munich
2022–2023 Juventus
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2023 Juventus Next Gen 14 (2)
2023– Juventus 98 (19)
International career‡
2021–2022 Turkey U17 10 (3)
2022–2026 Turkey U21 8 (2)
2023– Turkey 31 (5)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:01, 17 May 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 June 2026

Kenan Yıldız (Turkish pronunciation: [ceˈnan ˈjɯɫdɯz]; born 4 May 2005) is a German-born Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Serie A club Juventus. Born in Germany, he plays for the Turkey national team.

Yıldız began his youth career with Bayern Munich and joined Juventus Next Gen in 2022. He was promoted to Juventus' first-team in November 2023 and won the Coppa Italia in 2024. [2]

In May 2026, Yıldız was named Serie A's Best Under-23 Player for the 2025–26 season, receiving the league's "Rising Star" award after scoring ten goals and providing six assists for Juventus in 33 league appearances. He had also won the league's Rising Star of the Month award twice during the campaign.[3]

Club career

[edit]

Youth career

[edit]

Yıldız was born in Regensburg, Germany, to his Turkish father Engin Yıldız and his German mother Beate Hackl.[4][5] He began playing football at the youth academies of Sallern Regensburg and Jahn Regensburg.[6] He joined the youth academy of Bayern Munich in 2012 at the age of 7,[7] and worked his way up their youth categories, often acting as captain and eventually becoming a mainstay of their U19s.[8] In his final year with the Bayern U19s in the 2021–22 season, Yıldız contributed six goals and eight assists in 20 matches.[9]

Yıldız's contract with Bayern Munich expired in July 2022, and the club confirmed that they were unable to re-sign him.[10] Barcelona and Juventus competed for his signing as he became a free agent.[11] On 12 July, Juventus confirmed the signing of Yıldız.[12] In September, he was included among the best 60 players born in 2005 by English newspaper The Guardian.[13]

After playing with the U19s, on 16 December, Yıldız was first called up to Juventus Next Gen—the reserve team of Juventus—for the match against Virtus Verona set to be played the following day.[14] In that match, he was sent on as a substitute by coach Massimo Brambilla in the 61st minute to make his professional debut;[15] the team lost 3–0.[16] On 23 September 2023, he scored his first goal in professional football with a long-distance shot to open an away match against Ancona won 2–1.[17]

Juventus

[edit]

Yıldız made his Serie A debut for Juventus in a 3–0 away win over Udinese on 20 August 2023, coming on as a second-half substitute.[18] Ten days later, he extended his contract with the club until 2027.[19] He made his first start for the Juventus first team on 23 December, scoring the opening goal in a 2–1 win over Frosinone. This made him the club's youngest foreign goalscorer in Serie A at the age of 18 years and 233 days.[20] On 16 August 2024, he extended his contract until 2029 and acquired the number 10 shirt.[21]

On 17 September 2024, Yıldız scored the opener of a UEFA Champions League home match against PSV Eindhoven with a curling shot;[22] it was the first-ever goal scored in the league phase of the competition, and it rendered him the youngest-ever goalscorer for the team in the Champions League, surpassing club legend Alessandro Del Piero.[23] On 27 October, Yıldız came on as a substitute in the 60th minute with Juventus trailing 4–2 to Inter Milan in the Derby d'Italia and scored a brace to make it 4–4 and to win the MVP Award of the match.[24][25] On 11 January 2025, he opened the Derby della Mole against Torino (ended 1–1) after dribbling a few opponents and netting from outside the area with the left foot; this goal would be voted the 2024–25 Goal of the Season at the end of the season.[26] He finished the 2024–25 season with seven league goals.[27] He took part in Juventus' 2025 FIFA Club World Cup campaign. On 18 June, he scored on their debut in a 5–0 victory against Al Ain, and four days later netted a brace in a 4–1 win against Wydad Casablanca.[28][29]

Yıldız started the 2025–26 season winning the Serie A Player of the Month for August.[30] On 16 September 2025, he scored a Del Piero Zone goal against Borussia Dortmund,[31][32] which was reminiscent of Del Piero's goal also against Borussia Dortmund in his successful 1995–96 UEFA Champions League campaign,[33][34][35] as Juventus came back to force a 4–4 draw.[36][37][38] In doing so, he also became the fourth number 10 Juventus player (after Roberto Baggio, Del Piero, and Carlos Tevez) to score a goal against Borussia Dortmund in UEFA club competitions. Yıldız, who said he had never seen Del Piero's goal in 1995, told Sky Sport Italia that his shot was "instinctive".[39] On 20 September, after Manuel Locatelli was subbed out at half-time break, Yıldız captained the Bianconeri in the second half of an away match drawn 1–1 to Hellas Verona.[40] He is also the youngest player ever to doing so at the age of 20.[41] On 7 February 2026, he extended his contract with the club until 2030.[42]

International career

[edit]

Yıldız, also eligible to play for Germany, was a youth international for Turkey, having represented the Turkey U17s.[43] On 27 September 2022, Yıldız made his Turkey U21 debut, playing 28 minutes against Georgia.[44] In October 2023, Yıldız received his first call-up to the Turkey national team for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Croatia and Latvia.[45][46] On 12 October, he made his full international debut as an 86th-minute substitute in the 1–0 win over Croatia.[47] Yıldız scored his first international goal on 18 November 2023 in a friendly match with a 3–2 win over Germany, his mother's country and his country of birth, in Berlin.[48] On 7 June 2024, he was selected in the 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany.[49]

Playing style

[edit]

Yıldız is a modern playmaker, known for his strong passing and shots from outside the box. He is also highly regarded in the media for his excellent technique and dribbling skills.[50][51] His most natural role is as a playmaker, normally fielded as an attacking midfielder, although he has also been used in the mezzala role on occasion. Beyond his technical qualities, he is noted for this strong frame. Aside from the role of attacking midfielder, Yıldız can also play as a forward, either as a winger or second striker.[51][52][53]

Career statistics

[edit]

Club

[edit]
As of match played 17 May 2026[54]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Coppa Italia Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Juventus Next Gen 2022–23 Serie C 70——1[a]080
2023–24 Serie C 72———72
Total 142——10152
Juventus 2023–24 Serie A 27252——324
2024–25 Serie A 3572010[b]15[c]45212
2025–26 Serie A 36101010[b]1—4711
Total 9819822025413127
Career total 11221822026414629
  1. ↑ Appearance in Coppa Italia Serie C
  2. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ↑ One appearance and one goal in Supercoppa Italiana, four appearances and three goals in FIFA Club World Cup

International

[edit]
As of match played 25 June 2026[55]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Turkey 202331
2024141
202593
202650
Total315
Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yıldız goal.[55]
List of international goals scored by Kenan Yıldız
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
118 November 2023Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany2 Germany2–13–2Friendly
219 November 2024Gradski stadion, Nikšić, Montenegro17 Montenegro1–11–32024–25 UEFA Nations League B
311 October 2025Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria24 Bulgaria3–16–12026 FIFA World Cup qualification
44–1
514 October 2025Kocaeli Stadium, İzmit, Turkey25 Georgia1–04–1

Honours

[edit]

Juventus

Individual

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 "FIFA World Cup 2026™ – Squad List: Türkiye (TUR)" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2026. p. 45. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  2. ↑ Juventus.com. "Kenan Yildiz | Forward Juventus Men's First Team". Juventus.com. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  3. ↑ Merkezi, Haber (23 May 2026). "Kenan Yıldız, Serie A'da Sezonun En İyi Genç Oyuncusu Seçildi". Uyan 32 (in Turkish). Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  4. ↑ Sparkman, Raymond (2 January 2025). "Kenan Yildiz Parents, The Story Behind the Rising Star". The Mixed Zone. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  5. ↑ "Türkei-Held Kenan Yildiz: Warum er sich gegen Deutschland entschied". bild.de (in German). 20 November 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  6. ↑ "Barcelona lockt Regensburger Yildiz". Mittelbayerische Zeitung (in German). 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  7. ↑ Hummel, Thomas (22 February 2017). "Bundesliga: Die große Jagd nach Jugendfußballern". Süddeutsche.de.
  8. ↑ "Bayern'den ayrılacak milli futbolcu Kenan Yıldız'a Barcelona ve Juventus talip". Sporx. 5 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Durant, Michel (1 June 2022). "Barcelona 'seriously considering' Bosman move for Bayern Munich midfielder". Barca Universal. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "FC Bayern – Knallhart-Poker! Entscheidung bei Wunderkind (17) gefallen". bild.de. 5 July 2022.
  11. ↑ ""Barcellona e Juve si sfidano per Kenan Yildiz"". corrieredellosport.it. 5 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Juve Primavera, doppio colpo Ufficiale: presi Yildiz e Srdoc. La nota del club". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  13. ↑ Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven; Blight, Garry. "Next Generation 2022: 60 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Convocati Juventus Next Gen per la Virtus Verona: tre rientri, prima chiamata per Yildiz". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  15. ↑ "Esordio Yildiz, primi minuti da professionista con la Juventus Next Gen". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). 17 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  16. ↑ Baridon, Marco (17 December 2022). "Juventus Next Gen Virtus Verona 0-3: crollo casalingo per i bianconeri". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  17. ↑ "Yildiz, golazo all'Ancona con la Juve Next Gen e linguaccia alla Del Piero". www.tuttosport.com (in Italian). 23 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  18. ↑ "Juventus, chi è Kenan Yildiz: il classe 2005 che ha esordito in Serie A". La Casa di C (in Italian). 20 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  19. ↑ "Yildiz, futuro Juve. Firma fino al 2027: "Troppo bello per essere vero"". Tuttosport (in Italian). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  20. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz's record-breaking first goal for Juve!". Juventus FC. 23 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz renews and takes the No.10!". Juventus FC. 16 August 2024.
  22. ↑ "Champions League: Kenan Yildiz scores spectacular opener for Juventus against PSV". BBC Sport. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  23. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz claims Champions League milestone as Juventus ease past PSV". The Guardian. 17 September 2024. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  24. ↑ Bargione, Andrea (27 October 2024). "Inter Juve LIVE: sintesi, tabellino, risultato cronaca live" (in Italian). Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  25. ↑ Bandini, Nicky (28 October 2024). "Juventus' Kenan Yildiz seizes stage in a glorious eight-goal Derby d'Italia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  26. ↑ "Il goal di Yildiz al Torino è il più bello dello scorso campionato: battuti McTominay e Barella | Goal.com Italia". www.goal.com (in Italian). 19 June 2025. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  27. ↑ Juventus.com. "Serie A, le curiosita' e i rankings bianconeri a fine campionato - Juventus". Juventus.com (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  28. ↑ "Al Ain vs Juventus: FIFA Club World Cup stats & head-to-head". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  29. ↑ "Club World Cup: Juventus beat Wydad 4-1". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  30. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz 'EA Sports FC Player of the Month' di agosto". Lega Serie A (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  31. ↑ "Breve storia dei gol 'alla Del Piero'". Il Post (in Italian). 17 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  32. ↑ Bettoni, Lorenzo (17 September 2025). "30 years on, Yildiz recreates Del Piero's iconic goal vs. Borussia Dortmund". Football Italia. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  33. ↑ Sport, Sky (17 September 2025). "Yildiz, gol alla Del Piero 30 anni dopo di lui e... lo riguarda con Alex. Hai visto il VIDEO?". sport.sky.it (in Italian). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  34. ↑ "Yildiz o... Del Piero? Segna lo stesso gol al Borussia 30 anni e 3 giorni dopo Ale". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  35. ↑ "Del Piero elogia Yildiz riguardando il gol 'fotocopia' al suo: i due video a confronto". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 17 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  36. ↑ Crosetti, Maurizio (16 September 2025). "Yildiz e il gol alla Del Piero che lui non aveva mai visto". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  37. ↑ "Juventus 4-4 Borussia Dortmund: Lloyd Kelly goal rescues draw for Old Lady". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  38. ↑ "Champions League roundup: Juventus stun Dortmund with late double in 4-4 epic". The Guardian. 16 September 2025. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  39. ↑ "Yildiz alla Del Piero: goal al Borussia Dortmund come Pinturicchio nel 1995". Goal.com Italia (in Italian). 16 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  40. ↑ "Yildiz capitano in Verona Juve: la FOTO fa scatenare tutti" (in Italian). Juventus News 24. 20 September 2025. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  41. ↑ "Yildiz, 10 e capitano della Juve a vent'anni: a Verona un'immagine che fa la storia". www.tuttosport.com (in Italian). 21 September 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  42. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz renews until 2030". Juventus FC. 7 February 2026.
  43. ↑ "Juventus Kenan Yıldız'ı transfer etti". Fanatik (in Turkish). 12 August 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  44. ↑ "La Juve si gode Kenan Yildiz: prima l'esordio in U21 turca, poi l'incoronazione di The Guardian". www.tuttomercatoweb.com (in Italian). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  45. ↑ "A Millî Takım'ın Hırvatistan ve Letonya Maçları Aday Kadrosu Açıklandı". www.tff.org. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  46. ↑ "A Millî Takım Aday Kadrosunda Değişiklik". www.tff.org. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  47. ↑ "Yildiz makes Turkey debut - Juventus". Juventus.com. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  48. ↑ "HABERLER: Kenan Yıldız, İtalya manşetlerinde yer aldı!". Milliyet (in Turkish). 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  49. ↑ "A Millî Takımımızın EURO 2024 Kadrosu Açıklandı". www.tff.org. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  50. ↑ "Chi è Kenan Yildiz, l'ultimo talento accostato alla Juve". Juventus News - Ultime Notizie Juve - il BiancoNero. 6 August 2022.
  51. 1 2 "Juve's Turkish gem". www.fifa.com. 13 April 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  52. ↑ "FIFA Club World Cup 2025™" (PDF). FIFA.com. 14 June 2025.
  53. ↑ Corbo, Cristiano (4 February 2024). "Juventus, chi è Yildiz: il talento a disposizione di Allegri in gol a Frosinone" (in Italian). www.dazn.com. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  54. ↑ Kenan Yıldız at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  55. 1 2 Kenan Yıldız at National-Football-Teams.com Edit this at Wikidata
  56. ↑ "La Juventus vince la Coppa Italia Frecciarossa" [Juventus win the Frecciarossa Italia Cup] (in Italian). Lega Serie A. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  57. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz Wins The golden web award" (Press release). Football italia. 9 November 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  58. ↑ "EA Sports FC 25 – Serie A Team of the Season". Serie A. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  59. ↑ "Yildiz vince il premio 'Iliad Goal of the Season'" (Press release) (in Italian). Serie A. 19 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  60. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz "EA SPORTS FC Player Of The Month" for August" (Press release). Serie A. 11 September 2025. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  61. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz Wins January's Goal of the Month Presented by iliad" (Press release). Serie A. 5 February 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  62. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz "Rising Star Of The Month" for November" (Press release). Serie A. 10 December 2025. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  63. ↑ "Kenan Yildiz Rising Star Of The Month for March" (Press release). Serie A. 1 April 2026. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  64. ↑ "The MVPs of the Serie A 2025/2026". Serie A. 22 May 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
[edit]
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