Mehmet Ekici (born 25 March 1990) is a professional footballer who most recently played as a central midfielder for Fenerbahçe. He previously played for Werder Bremen, 1. FC Nürnberg, Bayern Munich, and Trabzonspor. Born in Germany, Ekici played for Germany for Under-17 to Under-21 level before switching to represent Turkey in senior competition.

Club career

Bayern Munich

Ekici made his debut for Bayern Munich's first team in the 2008 T-Home Super Cup. He was named in Bayern Munich's squad for both the 2008–09 and 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. In January 2010, it was announced that Ekici would train with the first-team for the rest of the 2009–10 season, along with reserve teammates David Alaba and Diego Contento, and on 1 February, he followed Contento in signing a contract with the senior team. He scored 12 goals in 29 matches for the reserve team during the 2009–10 season. He was an unused substitute for a few first-team matches before injury ruled him out at the end of the season.

Nürnberg (loan)

In July 2010, he joined 1. FC Nürnberg on a season-long loan.

Werder Bremen

On 18 May 2011, Ekici transferred to Werder Bremen for a reported fee of around €5 million. He scored his first goal for Bremen on 17 September, against his former club 1. FC Nürnberg in a match that ended in a 1–1 draw. On 1 September 2013, he scored two goals leading his team to a 4–1 win over VfB Stuttgart.

Trabzonspor

Ekici joined Trabzonspor on 15 August 2014 for a fee of €1.5 million. He made his league debut on 31 August 2014 against Kayseri Erciyesspor, which ended in a 0–0 draw. He left the club at the end of the 2016–17 season when his contract ran out. In his time at Trabzonspor, he made 83 appearances scoring 16 goals in all competitions.

Fenerbahçe

On 5 June 2017, Fenerbahçe announced the signing of Ekici.

International career

Although he has represented Germany, the nation of his birth, at youth and U21 levels, he has elected to play for Turkey at the senior level. He was called up to the Turkish side by Guus Hiddink for the friendly match against the Netherlands. On 29 March 2011, Ekici represented Turkey in his first major international match against Austria where he played right-wing with Turkish play-maker Arda Turan on the left-wing, which resulted in Turkey winning the match 2–0 and getting their UEFA Euro 2012 qualification back on-track. Ekici went with Dutch manager Guus Hiddink to 1. FC Nürnberg to try to persuade his close friend İlkay Gündoğan to follow in his paths in playing for Turkey.

Career statistics

Club

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Honours

Bayern Munich Individual