Çalhanoğlu Hakan
Hakan Çalhanoğlu is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Turkey national team, which he captains. He is well renowned as a free kick specialist, known for being effective from a multitude of angles and distances. He began his career at German second division club Karlsruher SC in 2010 and moved to top-flight side Hamburg two years later, spending another season back at his first club on loan. His performance in his first Bundesliga season earned him a €14.5 million transfer to Bayer Leverkusen in 2014. He played for three seasons there, totalling 28 goals in 115 official appearances. In 2017, he signed for Milan for an initial €20 million fee. In the summer of 2021, he joined city rivals Inter Milan on a free transfer. Born in Germany, Çalhanoğlu opted to represent Turkey at international level, from under-16 level onwards. He made his senior debut in 2013 and was part of their squad at UEFA Euro 2016 and Euro 2020.
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This shirt was worn by Hakan Calhanoglu during the Euro 2020 game between Turkey and Italy which took place in Roma, “Stadio Olimpico”, on June 11th 2021. Italy defeated Turkey 3-0 and at the end of the game Calhanoglu swapped his shirt with an Italy player whom we got it from. Italy dominated proceedings from start to finish, but for long periods of the goal-less first half it looked like a desperately unambitious Turkey side would successfully frustrate the Azzurri by sitting deep and clogging the space in and around the penalty area. Born in Germany, Çalhanoğlu opted to play for Turkey, qualifying for them through his family’s origins in Trabzon. He played for the country at youth international level, including the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup on home soil. He made his senior international debut on 6 September 2013 in a World Cup qualifier in Kayseri, replacing Gökhan Töre for the last eight minutes of a 5–0 win against Andorra in Fatih Terim’s first match back in charge. He made his first start on 25 May 2014 in a 2–1 friendly win against the Republic of Ireland at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, making way for Olcan Adın after 61 minutes. Çalhanoğlu was sharing a hotel room with national team defender Ömer Toprak in October 2013 after a World Cup qualifying defeat to the Netherlands, when Gökhan Töre and an unknown armed friend entered the room, and threatened both roommates at gunpoint, ostensibly due to Töre’s ex-girlfriend dating a friend of Toprak. The incident was hidden from Turkish media, but Çalhanoğlu revealed it to Germany’s ZDF television channel. Töre did not return to the national team until October 2014, when both Çalhanoğlu and Toprak were injured. The following month, with both players back to fitness and form, both were left out by Terim for a friendly against Brazil and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Kazakhstan while Töre remained. Çalhanoğlu questioned his omission from the team, while Terim defended his own decision and said that Töre deserved to be forgiven. In June 2015, Çalhanoğlu and Töre reconciled. On 31 March 2015, Çalhanoğlu scored his first international goal in a 2–1 friendly win away to Luxembourg, a 30-yard strike with three minutes remaining.[41] He scored two more in a 4–0 home friendly win over Bulgaria on 8 June, the latter being a free kick. His first competitive goal came on 10 October, a cross which secured a 2–0 away win over the Czech Republic in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying event. Çalhanoğlu became the first Turk to score against England, in the 11th match between the two nations, a friendly at the City of Manchester Stadium on 22 May 2016.
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Çalhanoğlu has been likened to Mesut Özil, another German-born midfielder of Turkish ancestry. He expressed a desire to be the equivalent of Özil in the Turkish national team. A set-piece specialist, he is known for scoring from free kicks, and models his set-piece technique on the knuckleball free kicks of Cristiano Ronaldo and especially Juninho Pernambucano. In addition to his ability to score with power and accuracy from direct free kicks with his right foot, he is also known for his ability to bend the ball, and his set-piece delivery. In December 2013, Talksport called him “a playmaker destined for the top”, praising his dedication and passing ability. Former England international Owen Hargreaves said on BT Sport in August 2015 that Çalhanoğlu’s style of play would fit Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur. Despite mostly positive reception in his late teens and early twenties, in recent years, however, he has drawn some criticism as well; his pace was deemed insufficient for a winger, a position he adopted due to absence of his natural classic “number 10” attacking midfield role in the preferred formations of his teams, particularly A.C. Milan. He has also been criticized in the media for his lack of physical attributes and overall inconsistency of his performances. However, his dribbling, technique, passing (both short and long), crossing, and vision, as well as his eye for goal and striking ability from distance, have been referred to as his strengths. Çalhanoğlu has also been used in deeper midfield positions throughout his career, including in a holding role, in which he usually operates as a deep-lying playmaker, as an offensive–minded central midfielder, known as the mezzala role in Italian football jargon, or even in more offensive roles on occasion, as a second striker, for example. Çalhanoğlu was born in Mannheim, Germany, to Turkish parents originally from Bayburt, Turkey. Çalhanoğlu married his childhood sweetheart Sinem Gündoğdu, in Mannheim, in 2017. The couple had alleged marital problems, because of which Çalhanoğlu decided to file for divorce, but in 2018, the couple reportedly made up. The couple welcomed their daughter, Liya, born in Mannheim, in March 2019. Muhammed, younger brother of Hakan, is also a professional footballer. The younger Çalhanoğlu was also formed at Waldhof Mannheim and Karlsruher SC, and went on to play in the lower divisions of Austrian and Turkish football. Similarly, his cousin Kerim Çalhanoğlu is also a footballer, and also played for Waldhof Mannheim. In January 2017, Çalhanoğlu posted a video to Twitter supporting Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ahead of the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum. Bayer Leverkusen spokesman Dirk Mesch confirmed the club discussed the tweet with Çalhanoğlu. On 11 October 2019, following Cenk Tosun’s goal in a 1–0 home win over Albania in a Euro 2020 qualifier, Çalhanoğlu was one of the Turkish players who participated in a “military salute” goal celebration. That same day, he stated his open support for the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria with a post on Twitter, which drew criticism from numerous Italian football fans on social media.
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On 3 July 2017, Çalhanoğlu signed a four-year contract with Serie A club A.C. Milan. The fee was reported as an initial €20 million, rising to €24 million. He was assigned the club’s prestigious number 10 jersey, previously owned by the likes of Gianni Rivera, Ruud Gullit, Dejan Savićević, Zvonimir Boban, Rui Costa and Clarence Seedorf. He made his Rossoneri competitive debut a month later in the second leg of the Europa League third qualifying round, replacing Suso for the final 25 minutes of a 2–0 win (3–0 aggregate) over Universitatea Craiova at the San Siro. He scored his first goal for Milan in a 5–1 away win against Austria Wien in the group stage on 14 September, also providing two assists. Domestically, Çalhanoğlu made his league debut on 20 August, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–0 win at Crotone. He was sent off in a 2–0 home loss to Roma on 1 October, earning a second yellow card for a foul on Radja Nainggolan. Çalhanoğlu scored his first league goal on 25 October in a 4–1 win at Chievo, becoming the first Turk to net in Serie A since Emre Belözoğlu in 2003.
