Yasin Pehlivan

Yasin Pehlivan — Biography

Yasin Pehlivan is a defensive midfielder who grew up in Vienna in a Turkish family and chose to represent Austria rather than Turkey. His best years ran from Rapid Wien through Gaziantepspor and Bursaspor to Red Bull Salzburg, where he won the Austrian Bundesliga and the Austrian Cup in 2015-16. He later played in Turkey again, for Manisa FK and Sakaryaspor.

He started out in 1998 at Breitensee, spent a loan spell at First Vienna and rose through the Rapid Wien academy. In 2006 Rapid's under-19 side reached the final of the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland, losing to Spartak Moscow, and he shared the top-scorer title. His first-team debut came on 22 February 2009 against Red Bull Salzburg, and he scored his first goal against Kapfenberger SV. He moved to Gaziantepspor in May 2011, where his first goal for the club came in March 2012 against İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. In June 2013 he signed a three-year deal with Bursaspor, and in 2015 he returned to Salzburg. At Spartak Trnava he won the 2017-18 Slovak Super Liga, then played for Gençlerbirliği and, in January 2022, left Rizespor to join Manisa FK.

After playing for Austria's under-20 and under-21 sides, he made his senior international debut in 2009 and has since earned 17 caps for his country. He holds Turkish citizenship alongside his Austrian one and stands 1.83 metres tall.