Yusuf Yazıcı

Yusuf Yazıcı (born 29 January 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the Turkey national football team.

Yusuf Yazıcı

Yazıcı playing for Turkey in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Yusuf Yazıcı[1]
Date of birth	(1997-01-29) 29 January 1997 (age 28)[2]
Place of birth	Trabzon, Turkey
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder, forward
Team information
Current team	Olympiacos
Number	97
Youth career
2008–2016	Trabzonspor
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2019	Trabzonspor	87	(20)
2019–2024	Lille	96	(15)
2022	→ CSKA Moscow (loan)	10	(8)
2022–2023	→ Trabzonspor (loan)	13	(3)
2024–	Olympiacos	1	(0)
International career‡
2016	Turkey U19	3	(1)
2016–2017	Turkey U21	3	(0)
2017–	Turkey	45	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:50, 27 October 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:25, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

An academy graduate of Trabzonspor, Yazıcı made his senior debut in December 2015, aged 18, and made over eighty league appearances for the club. In 2019, he joined Lille for €17.5 million, including €1 million of performance criteria, the highest transfer revenue of Trabzonspor's history. He made his senior international debut for Turkey in June 2017, and represented the side at UEFA Euro 2020. In 2022, he then returned to his hometown club on loan.

Club career

Trabzonspor

Yazıcı was born in the Turkish town of Trabzon. During his schooling at Trabzon Erdogdu Anatolian High School, he was part of the football team which was crowned World High School Football Champions.^[3] He then progressed through the academy of local side Trabzonspor and signed his first professional contract with the club on 21 December 2015.^[4] He made his competitive debut the following day, starting in a 2–1 Turkish Cup win over Gaziantepspor. Yazıcı made his Süper Lig debut in the new year on 2 February 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute for Musa Nizam in a 2–1 loss to Akhisar Belediyespor.^[5] He scored his first goals for the club on 8 May, netting twice and assisting another two in a 6–0 win over Rizespor.^[3] In dong so, he became the youngest player to score during the 2015–16 Süper Lig season at the age of 19.^[6] He ultimately made nine appearances across all competitions for the season, scoring twice as Trabzonspor ended the campaign in twelfth position.^{[citation needed]}

Midway through the following season, on 22 December, he scored his first Cup goals for the club, netting a brace in a 5–0 win over Kızılcabölükspor.^[3] Following the exclusion of regular midfielder Mehmet Ekici, Yazıcı enjoyed an extended run in the first team the following year and in March was rewarded with a new five-year contract worth a guaranteed TL250,000 a year.^[7][8] He ended the month by scoring in a 2–0 win over Galatasaray, a match in which scouts from Premier League side Manchester United and the Eredivisie's PSV Eindhoven were present to watch his performance.^[9] Yazıcı ultimately ended the season with a return of six goals in 22 appearances across all competitions.^{[citation needed]}

On 22 October 2017, Yazıcı received his first ever red card when he was sent off in stoppage time in a 1–0 loss to Yeni Malatyaspor.^[10] Later that month, he scored his first goal for the campaign, netting the winner in a 2–1 victory over Galatasaray.^[11] In January the following year he was named by UEFA as one of the 50 young players to watch in 2018 and went on to end the season having scored 10 goals and recorded 5 assists in 33 league appearances.^[12][13] The following season, he contributed four goals and three assists in 34 appearances across all competitions.^[14]

In 6 June 2019, Yazıcı was linked with Lille OSC according to press declaration by Ahmet Ağaoğlu, club president.^[15] Although Ağagolu's statement to avoid potential transfer of Yazıcı, on 6 July 2019, Gérard Lopez, president of Lille, stated that there is a mutual interest between the club and Yazıcı.^[16] On 14 July 2019, Yazıcı reportedly submitted his request to Trabzonspor management in order to proceed negotiations with Lille.^[17] On 17 July 2019, Ağaoğlu stated that he is not distant to a potential transfer of Yazıcı to Lille, however it is not in their agenda due to the fact that amount of offer is not satisfying at such stage.^[18] On 4 August 2019, Yazıcı announced on his Instagram account that he decided to leave Trabzonspor, in order to "represent Trabzonspor abroad successfully".^[19][20] On 4 August 2019, Trabzonspor reportedly agreed with Lille for transfer of Yazıcı, in scope of €17.5 million and 50% transfer fee right of Portuguese defender Edgar Ié.^[21][22] Yazıcı left the club on 5 August 2019, taking pertinent flight from Trabzon Airport to France.^[23]

Lille

On 6 August 2019, Yazıcı joined Lille OSC on a five-year deal.^[24] On 6 August 2019, Trabzonspor announced the details of the transfer, confirming a €17.5 million, including €1 million of performance criteria,^[25] making it the highest transfer revenue of Trabzonspor's history.^[26] He chose number 12 for his jersey.^[25][27] Substituted in on 68th minute, Yazıcı made his Ligue 1 debut on week 1 encounter of 2019–20 season against Nantes that ended 2–1 for Lille at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, on 11 August 2019.^[28]

On 22 October 2020, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 away win against Sparta Prague in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League.^[29] On 5 November 2020, he scored another Europa League hat-trick, this time in a 3–0 away win against Milan at the San Siro.^[30] Yazici's hat-trick was the first Milan had conceded at home in any competition since Barcelona's Rivaldo in 2000.^[31]

Loan to CSKA Moscow

On 19 January 2022, CSKA Moscow announced the loan of Yazıcı from Lille until the end of the season, with an option to buy the player in the summer.^[32] On 26 February 2022, he scored the opening goal from a direct free kick in his first Russian Premier League game for CSKA, a Main Moscow derby game against FC Spartak Moscow, the game ended with a 2–0 victory for CSKA.^[33] He followed that up with two assists in CSKA's next game, a Russian Cup 2–1 victory over PFC Sochi. In CSKA's next league game he scored the only goal of the game deep in added time to secure a victory over FC Nizhny Novgorod.^[34] He scored again in his third game on 12 March 2022 against FC Lokomotiv Moscow to extend CSKA's winning streak to 6 games.^[35] In the next game against FC Rubin Kazan on 20 March 2022, Yazıcı scored a hat-trick in a 6–1 victory.^[36] He became the first ever foreign player to score in each of their first 4 games in the RPL.^[37] On 25 March 2022, he was named Russian Premier League's player of the month.^[38]

On 3 April 2022, Yazıcı scored in his fifth straight game, a late equalizer in a 2–2 game against FC Ural Yekaterinburg,^[39] setting a new league record for most consecutive scoring games to start the league career for all players, not just foreign ones.^[40] He extended his streak to 6 in the next game on 9 April that CSKA lost to FC Khimki.^[41] The streak ended in the next game against FC Ufa on 16 April.^[42] On 23 June 2022, CSKA announced that the club was not able to reach agreement on a permanent transfer of Yazıcı and he returned to Lille.^[43]

Olympiacos

On 28 September 2024 Yazici signed a 3 year contract with the Greek giants and current Conference League winners Olympiacos.^[44] On his debut performance for the team, he was badly injured in his left knee, suffering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.^[45]

International career

Yazıcı competing for Turkey against Russia in a friendly in 2018.

Youth

Yazıcı made his debut for the Turkey national under-19 football team on 25 February 2016 and scored the opening goal in a 3–2 loss to the Czech Republic.^[46] He later also represented the nation at U-21 level.^{[citation needed]}

Senior

Yazıcı made his debut for the senior Turkey national football team on 11 June 2017 in a 4–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification win over Kosovo, and registered the assist for Turkey's fourth goal.^[47][48]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 October 2024^[49]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Trabzonspor	2015–16	Süper Lig	6	2	3	0	—		—		9	2
	2016–17	Süper Lig	18	4	4	2	—		—		22	6
	2017–18	Süper Lig	33	10	2	0	—		—		35	10
	2018–19	Süper Lig	30	4	4	0	—		—		34	4
	Total		87	20	13	2	0	0	0	0	100	22
Lille	2019–20	Ligue 1	18	1	1	0	6[b]	0	0	0	25	1
	2020–21	Ligue 1	32	7	2	0	8[c]	7	—		42	14
	2021–22	Ligue 1	15	1	2	0	4[b]	0	1[d]	0	22	1
	2022–23	Ligue 1	4	1	0	0	—		—		4	1
	2023–24	Ligue 1	27	5	3	2	11[e]	5	—		41	12
	Total		96	15	8	2	29	12	1	0	134	29
CSKA Moscow (loan)	2021–22	Russian Premier League	10	8	2	0	—		—		12	8
Trabzonspor (loan)	2022–23	Süper Lig	13	3	1	2	7[f]	0	—		21	5
Olympiacos	2024–25	Super League Greece	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
Career total			206	46	24	6	34	12	1	0	266	63

1. Includes Turkish Cup, Coupe de France, Russian Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearance in Trophée des Champions
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
6. Four appearances in UEFA Europa League, three appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 22 June 2024^[50]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Turkey	2017	4	0
	2018	6	0
	2019	9	1
	2020	8	0
	2021	11	1
	2022	1	0
	2023	2	1
	2024	4	0
Total		45	3

Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.^[51]

List of international goals scored by Yusuf Yazıcı

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 September 2019	Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova	Moldova	4–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2	1 September 2021	Vodafone Park, Istanbul, Turkey	Montenegro	2–0	2–2	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	21 November 2023	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1–1	1–1	2024 UEFA Euro qualification

Honours

Lille

• Ligue 1: 2020–21^[52]
• Trophée des Champions: 2021^[53]

Individual

• UNFP Player of the Month: December 2020^[54]
• UEFA Europa League Top scorer: 2020–21 (joint – 7 goals)

References

1. "Yusuf Yazici" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
2. "Yusuf Yazıcı". Lille OSC. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
3. "Yusuf Yazıcı kimdir?". Fanatik (in Turkish). 29 January 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
4. "Yusuf Yazıcı". Turkish Football Federation (in Turkish). Retrieved 10 March 2017.
5. "Akhisar Belediyespor v Trabzonspor". Turkish Football Federation (in Turkish). 2 February 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
6. "Yusuf Yazıcı'nın Ç. Rizespor'a attığı gol!". beIN Sport (in Turkish). Retrieved 9 March 2017.
7. "Fatih Terim, Yusuf Yazıcı'yi takibe aldi". Milliyet (in Turkish). 13 February 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
8. Güncelleme, Son (3 March 2017). "Yusuf Yazıcı: Layık olmalıyım". Türkiye (in Turkish). Retrieved 9 March 2017.
9. "Yusuf Yazıcı Mourinho'nun listesine girdi". CNN Turkey (in Turkish). 24 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
10. "Yeni Malatyaspor–Trabzonspor: 1–0". Millyet (in Turkish). 21 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
11. "Trabzonspor 2 - 1 Galatasaray". Mynetspor (in Turkish). 29 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
12. "50 for the future: UEFA.com's ones to watch for 2018". UEFA. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
13. "Trabzonspor'da duygusal vedalar". 61Saat (in Turkish). 19 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
14. "Mercato : Le LOSC serait passé à l'attaque pour Yusuf Yazici (Trabzonspor)". France Football. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
15. "Yusuf Yazıcı'ya Avrupa'dan teklif… Ahmet Ağaoğlu açıkladı" (in Turkish). Sözcü. 6 June 2019. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
16. "Yusuf Yazıcı, Lille'i istiyor" (in Turkish). Habertürk. 6 July 2019. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
17. "Yusuf Yazıcı, Lille İçin İzin İstedi" (in Turkish). NTV Spor. 14 July 2019. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
18. "Trabzonspor'dan Yusuf Yazıcı açıklaması!" (in Turkish). NTV Spor. 17 July 2019. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
19. "Trabzonsporlu futbolcu Yusuf Yazıcı, bordo-mavili kulüp ile yollarını ayırdığını açıkladı" (in Turkish). NTV Spor. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
20. Ahmet Seyit Eksik (4 August 2019). "Yusuf Yazıcı Trabzonspor'dan ayrılma kararı aldı" (in Turkish). Anadolu News Agency. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
21. "İşte Yusuf Yazıcı için Trabzonspor'a ödenecek rakam! Transferin perde arkası…" (in Turkish). Sözcü. 4 August 2019. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
22. "Trabzonspor: Wechsel von Yusuf Yazici zum OSC Lille steht vor Abschluss" (in German). Goal.com. 4 August 2019. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
23. "Yusuf Yazıcı Fransa'ya Gitti" (in Turkish). NTV Spor. 5 August 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
24. "L'INTERNATIONAL TURC, YUSUF YAZICI, NOUVEAU RENFORT DU LOSC". Lille OSC (in French). 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
25. "Trabzonspor Yusuf Yazıcı'yı KAP'A bildirdi! İşte bonservis bedeli…" (in Turkish). Sözcü. 6 August 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
26. "Yusuf Yazıcı resmen Lille'de" (in Turkish). yeniasir.com.tr. 6 August 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
27. "Yusuf Yazıcı Lille formasını giydi! Numarası..." (in Turkish). Milliyet. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
28. "Match Stats LOSC - FC Nantes". Ligue 1. 11 August 2019. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
29. "Sparta Prague 1–4 Lille". The Guardian. 22 October 2020.
30. "AC Milan 0–3 Lille". BBC. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
31. "AC Milan vs. Lille score: Yusuf Yazici catches fire with hat-trick to shake up Europa League Group H". CBS Sports. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
32. "Юсуф Языджи пополнил состав ПФК ЦСКА". CSKA Moscow (in Russian). 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
33. "Spartak v CSKA game report". Russian Premier League. 26 February 2022.
34. "CSKA v Nizhny Novgorod game report". Russian Premier League. 5 March 2022.
35. "Lokomotiv v CSKA game report". Russian Premier League. 12 March 2022.
36. "CSKA v Rubin game report". Russian Premier League. 20 March 2022.
37. "У Языджи лучший старт в РПЛ среди легионеров. Турок забил во всех 4 матчах в лиге" (in Russian). Sports.ru. 20 March 2022.
38. "ЯЗЫДЖИ, БЕРЕЗУЦКИЙ И ПРОМЕС – ЛУЧШИЕ В ФЕВРАЛЕ И МАРТЕ!" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 25 March 2022.
39. "CSKA v Ural game report". Russian Premier League. 3 April 2022.
40. "Юсуф Языджи установил рекорд чемпионатов России" (in Russian). Sport Express. 20 March 2022.
41. "Khimki v CSKA game report". Russian Premier League. 9 April 2022.
42. "Ufa v CSKA game report". Russian Premier League. 16 April 2022.
43. "Юсуф Языджи покинул ПФК ЦСКА" (in Russian). PFC CSKA Moscow. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
44. "Yusuf Yazıcı joins Olympiacos". Olympiacos FC. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
45. "The national football player who tore his cruciate ligaments has ended his season". Haberler.com. 27 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
46. "Turkey U19 v Czech Rep U19". Turkish Football Federation (in Turkish). 25 February 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
47. "Kosovo 1–4 Turkey". FIFA. 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
48. "Trabzonspor'da 61 numara Yusuf Yazici'nin..." Milliyet (in Turkish). 15 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
49. Yusuf Yazıcı at Soccerway
50. "Yusuf Yazıcı". EU-football.info. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
51. "Yusuf Yazıcı". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
52. "Lille hold their nerve to clinch their first Ligue 1 title for a decade". The Guardian. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
53. "Lille beat PSG to clinch first French Super Cup". Sky Sports. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
54. "Yusuf Yazici, joueur du mois de décembre de la Ligue 1 Uber Eats !" (in French). UNFP. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.

External links

• Yusuf Yazıcı at the Turkish Football Federation
• Yusuf Yazıcı at www.mackolik.com (in Turkish)
• Yusuf Yazıcı – UEFA competition record (archive)