Kenan Yildiz (born 4 May 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus. Born in Germany, he plays for the Turkey national team.
Yildiz was born in Regensburg, Bavaria, and began playing football at the youth academies of Sallern Regensburg and Jahn Regensburg. He joined the youth academy of Bayern Munich in 2012 at the age of 7, and worked his way up their youth categories, often acting as captain and eventually becoming a mainstay of their U19s. In his final year with the Bayern U19s in the 2021–22 season, Yildiz contributed six goals and eight assists in 20 matches.
Yildiz's contract with Bayern Munich expired in July 2022, and the club confirmed that they were unable to re-sign Yildiz. Barcelona and Juventus competed for his signing as he became a free agent. On 12 July, Juventus confirmed the signing of Yildiz. In September, he was included among the best 60 players born in 2005 by English newspaper The Guardian.
After playing with the U19s, on 16 December, Yildiz 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. In that match, he was subbed in by coach Massimo Brambilla in the 61st minute to make his professional debut; the team lost 3–0.
Yildiz 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. Ten days later, he extended his contract with the club until 2027. Yildiz made his first start for the Juventus first team on 23 December 2023, 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.
Yildiz was born in Germany to a Turkish father and a German mother. He is a youth international for Turkey, having represented the Turkey U17s. On 27 September 2022, Yildiz made his Turkey U21 debut, playing 28 minutes against Georgia.
In October 2023, he received his first call-up to the Turkey senior national team for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Croatia and Latvia. On 12 October, Yildiz made his full international debut as an 86th-minute substitute in the 1–0 win over Croatia.
He scored his first international goal on 18 November 2023 in a 3–2 win over Germany, his country of birth, in Berlin.
Yildiz is a modern midfielder known for his strong passing and shots from outside the box. He is known for his excellent technique. His most natural role is as playmaker, and he is noted for this strong frame. Aside from midfielder, he can also play as a winger. |
