Levin Öztunalı

Levin Öztunalı — Biography

Levin Öztunalı is an attacking midfielder, the son of a Turkish father and a German mother. His maternal grandfather is Uwe Seeler, the former German international and World Cup finalist. Best known for two European titles won with Germany's youth sides, Öztunalı has played since summer 2023 for Hamburger SV, the club that raised him.

He started at Eintracht Norderstedt and moved into the Hamburger SV academy in 2006. He signed for Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 and, aged 17 years and 146 days at his Bundesliga debut, became the youngest player to appear for the club in that league. In 2014 he was voted Germany's second-best under-18 player. On loan at Werder Bremen he made 46 appearances in 18 months, scored against Dortmund and Stuttgart and helped the side avoid relegation. At Mainz he scored five league goals in his first season and the winner against Qabala in the Europa League. Union Berlin followed, and in 2023 he returned to Hamburger SV on a free transfer.

His international path began with the under-15 side in 2010. At the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship he scored in the semi-final against Austria, started the 1-0 final win over Portugal and was named in the team of the tournament. He was in the squad that beat Spain 1-0 in the 2017 European Under-21 final, and scored seven goals in 30 under-21 appearances. With no senior cap, he is eligible for both Germany and Turkey.