Tolgay Arslan

Tolgay Ali Arslan (Turkish pronunciation: [toɫɡaj ali aɾsɫan]; born August 16, 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League club Melbourne City.

Tolgay Arslan
Arslan with Hamburger SV in 2014
Personal information
Full name Tolgay Ali Arslan[1]
Date of birth (1990-08-16) 16 August 1990
Place of birth Paderborn, West Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Melbourne City
Number 10
Youth career
1996–2003 Grün-Weiß Paderborn
2003–2009 Borussia Dortmund
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2015 Hamburger SV 83 (2)
2010–2011 → Alemannia Aachen (loan) 31 (6)
2015–2018 Beşiktaş 89 (0)
2019–2020 Fenerbahçe 24 (0)
2020–2023 Udinese 96 (5)
2023– Melbourne City 0 (0)
International career‡
2009 Turkey U19 2 (1)
2010 Turkey U21 1 (0)
2011 Germany U20 1 (0)
2012–2013 Germany U21 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 February 2013

He has represented both Germany and Turkey internationally at youth level.

Club career

Early career

Arslan was born and raised in Germany, in Paderborn, to Turkish parents from Çorum; his father, a real estate agent, moved to Germany when he was 11 years old. He began playing football at the age of six, when his father brought him along to watch Grün-Weiß Paderborn play. Arslan began his career with the local club. Patterning his game around Zinedine Zidane and Gheorghe Hagi, Arslan earned a move to Borussia Dortmund in 2003. After several years in Dortmund's youth team, Arslan moved to Hamburger SV.[2]

Hamburger SV
Arslan with Hamburger SV in 2009

Arslan moved to Hamburger SV on a free transfer in 2009. He made his debut on 23 September 2009, coming in the 70th minute as a substitute for Marcus Berg in the second round of the DFB-Pokal against Osnabrück.[3] Hamburg managed a 3–3 draw, but went on to lose 5–7 following a penalty shootout. Arslan made his league debut on 17 October 2009 in a 0–0 draw against Bayer Leverkusen.[4]

He moved on loan to Alemannia Aachen for the 2010–11 season and scored his first goal for the club in the fifth week of the 2. Bundesliga in a 3–1 win against FSV Frankfurt.[5]

Beşiktaş

On 27 January 2015, Arslan signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Süper Lig club Beşiktaş.[6] He came on as a substitute for José Sosa on 26 February in the 60th minute of a UEFA Europa League last 32 second leg against Liverpool, and 15 minutes later scored the only goal of the game, taking it to a penalty shootout in which he scored Beşiktaş' last attempt before Dejan Lovren missed to eliminate Liverpool.[7]

Fenerbahçe and Udinese

In January 2019 he moved to Fenerbahçe where he will play until June 2020 and then change league by going to Italy for three seasons for Udinese.

Melbourne City

On 15 June 2023, his move to Australia was announced, signing a two-year contract with Melbourne City. He made his debut in the Australia Cup against Oakleigh Cannons, in which he scored two penalties in a 3–2 win. His goalscoring run would continue for the next two rounds of the 2023 Australia Cup, with a deflection goal credited to Arslan coming from a shot from Steven Ugarkovic against Wellington Phoenix and a penalty rebound against the North Eastern MetroStars.

International career

Arslan began his career with the Turkey youth teams in 2009. He made two appearances for the U-19 team in 2009.[8] He made his first appearance for the Turkey national under-21 football team against the Republic of Ireland on 7 September 2010.[9]

In December 2010, Arslan switched to the German Football Association.[10] He was first called up to the Germany national under-21 team to face, of all teams, Turkey on 14 November 2012.[11]

Personal life

In November 2018, it was decided that Arslan would perform his military service for Turkey in June 2019.[12]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 18 September 2022
Club Season League National cup Other Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hamburger SV 2009–10 Bundesliga 5010—0060
2011–12 Bundesliga 8100——81
2012–13 Bundesliga 25010——260
2013–14 Bundesliga 3214010—371
2014–15 Bundesliga 13020——150
Total 832801000922
Alemannia Aachen (loan) 2010–11 2. Bundesliga 31640——356
Beşiktaş 2014–15 Süper Lig 16031—31222
2015–16 Süper Lig 6010—0070
2016–17 Süper Lig 3003010100440
2017–18 Süper Lig 290601050410
2018–19 Süper Lig 80000081161
Total 890131202621303
Fenerbahçe 2018–19 Süper Lig 11000—10120
2019–20 Süper Lig 13082—00212
Total 24082—10332
Udinese 2020–21 Serie A 30310——313
2021–22 Serie A 30130——331
2022–23 Serie A 36100——361
Total 66540——705
Career total 323133733027236018

Honours

Beşiktaş

References
  1. "Tolgay Ali Arslan" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. Özten, Nihat (1 July 2010). "10 numaranın genç adayı: Tolgay Ali Arslan" (in Turkish). tff.org. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  3. "HSV scheitert beim Pokal-Drama in Osnabrück" (in German). kicker.de. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  4. "Torun scheitert an Castro, Kießling an Rost" (in German). kicker.de. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  5. Franzke, Julian; Holger Richter (23 September 2010). "kicker Heft Nr.77". kicker Sportmagazin (in German). Nuremberg: Olympia Verlag.
  6. "Beşiktaş, Tolgay Arslan'la imzaladı!".
  7. Whalley, Mike (26 February 2015). "Besiktas 1-0 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  8. "TOLGAY ALİ ARSLAN" (in Turkish). tff.org. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  9. "TÜRKİYE 1–0 İRLANDA" (in Turkish). tff.org. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  10. "Kampf um die Talente: Jetzt wird zurückgeklaut!" (in German). Bild.de. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  11. "U21: Adrion beruft Neulinge Rüdiger und Arslan" (in German). Focus.de. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  12. "Burdur'da yaz kampı (!)". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 19 November 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
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