| Intro | Turkish footballer |
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From |
Turkey Germany |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 25 March 1990, Munich |
| Age: | 30 years |
Mehmet Ekici (Turkish pronunciation: [me̞hˈme̞t e̞ˈcid͡ʒɪ]; born 25 March 1990) is a Turkish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Trabzonspor, having previously played for Werder Bremen, 1. FC Nürnberg and Bayern Munich. Born in Germany, Ekici played for the Germany national football team at Under-17 to Under-21 level before switching to represent Turkey in senior competition.
Club career
Bayern Munich
Ekici has appeared for Bayern Munich’s first team, making his debut in the 2008 T-Home Super Cup. He has been named in Bayern Munich’s squad for both the 2008–09 and 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. In January 2010, it was announced that Ekici would train with the first-team for the rest of the 2009–10 season, along with reserve team-mates David Alaba and Diego Contento, and on 1 February, he followed Contento in signing a contract with the senior team. He was an unused substitute for a few matches before injury ruled him out of the end of the season. In July 2010, he joined 1. FC Nürnberg on a season-long loan.
Werder Bremen
On 18 May 2011, Ekici transferred to Werder Bremen for a fee believed to be around €5 million. He scored his first goal for Bremen on 17 September, against his former club 1. FC Nürnberg in match that ended in a 1–1 draw. On 1 September 2013 he scored two goals leading his team to 4–1 win over VfB Stuttgart.
Trabzonspor
Ekici joined Trabzonspor on 15 August 2014 for a fee of €1.5 million. He made his league debut on 31 August 2014 against Kayseri Erciyesspor, which ended in a 0–0 draw.
International career
Although he has represented Germany, the nation of his birth, at youth and U21 levels, he has elected to play for Turkey at the senior level. He was called up to Turkish side by Guus Hiddink for the friendly match against the Netherlands. On 29 March 2011, Ekici represented Turkey in his first major international match against Austria where he played right-wing with Turkish play-maker Arda Turan on the left-wing, which resulted in Turkey winning the match 2–0 and getting their UEFA Euro 2012 qualification back on-track. Ekici went with Turkish manager Guus Hiddink to 1. FC Nürnberg to try to persuade his close friend İlkay Gündoğan to follow in his paths in playing for Turkey.
Career statistics
- As of 12 December 2016.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Germany | League | DFB-Pokal | Europe | Total | ||||||
| Bayern Munich II | 2007–08 | Regionalliga Süd | 9 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | 3. Liga | 32 | 6 | — | — | 32 | 6 | |||
| 2009–10 | 29 | 12 | — | — | 29 | 12 | ||||
| Total | 70 | 18 | — | — | 70 | 18 | ||||
| 1. FC Nürnberg (loan) | 2010–11 | Bundesliga | 32 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | 36 | 4 | |
| Total | 32 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | 36 | 4 | |||
| Werder Bremen | 2011–12 | Bundesliga | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 22 | 1 | |
| 2012–13 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 2 | |||
| 2013–14 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| Total | 41 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 43 | 4 | |||
| Turkey | League | Turkish Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| Trabzonspor | 2014–15 | Süper Lig | 29 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 42 | 10 |
| 2015–16 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 5 | ||
| 2016–17 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 16 | 3 | |||
| Total | 60 | 16 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 80 | 18 | ||
| Career total | 203 | 41 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 229 | 44 | ||
Honours
Club
- Bayern Munich
- Bundesliga: 2009–10
- DFB-Pokal: 2009–10