Nuri Şahin

Lore & Background

Şahin began his playing career at Dortmund, spending six years there – including a year-long loan at Feyenoord – and winning the Bundesliga in 2011 before signing for Real Madrid in 2011 for €10 million. In August 2012, Şahin agreed to a one-year loan deal with Liverpool, which was terminated in January 2013 to allow him to return to Dortmund on an 18-month loan. This was then made permanent, and he stayed at Dortmund until his transfer to Werder Bremen in August 2018. He retired from football in 2021, after one season at Antalyaspor in the Süper Lig.

Reader's Guide

Şahin joined Werder Bremen on 31 August 2018, the last day of the summer transfer window, signing a two-year contract on a free transfer. As a defensive midfielder, he was intended to be the successor to Thomas Delaney, but alternated with Philipp Bargfrede. He made 23 appearances in his first season, scoring one goal and providing one assist. In the DFB-Pokal, he reached the semi-finals with Werder, losing to eventual winner Bayern Munich. In the 2019–20 season, he appeared regularly in the first half but lost his place in February 2020 to Davy Klaassen and Maximilian Eggestein. After 17 games that season, in which he assisted four goals, he suffered a hip injury in early June 2020 that sidelined him for a long while.

Did You Know?

• Şahin became the youngest player to play in the Bundesliga at age 16 years and 334 days, a record later surpassed by Youssoufa Moukoko.
• He scored his first Bundesliga goal on 25 November 2005, becoming the youngest scorer in the league at the time.
• Şahin was voted Bundesliga player of the season in 2010–11 after winning the title with Dortmund.
• He enrolled at Harvard Business School in April 2018.
• Şahin is fluent in five languages: Turkish, German, English, Dutch, and Spanish.