Tolgay Ali Arslan (; born August 16, 1990) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
He has represented both Germany and Turkey internationally at youth level.
Club career Early career Arslan was born and raised in Germany, in Paderborn, to Turkish parents from Çorum; his father Erhan Arslan, a real estate agent, moved to Germany when he was 11 years old. He began playing football at the age of six, when his father brought him along to watch Grün-Weiß Paderborn play. Arslan began his career with the local club. Patterning his game around Zinedine Zidane and Gheorghe Hagi, Arslan earned a move to Borussia Dortmund in 2003. After several years in Dortmund's youth team, Arslan moved to Hamburger SV.
Hamburger SV
Arslan moved to Hamburger SV on a free transfer in 2009. He made his debut on 23 September 2009, coming in the 70th minute as a substitute for Marcus Berg in the second round of the DFB-Pokal against Osnabrück. Hamburg managed a 3–3 draw, but went on to lose 5–7 following a penalty shootout. Arslan made his league debut on 17 October 2009 in a 0–0 draw against Bayer Leverkusen.
He moved on loan to Alemannia Aachen for the 2010–11 season and scored his first goal for the club in the fifth week of the 2. Bundesliga in a 3–1 win against FSV Frankfurt.
Beşiktaş On 27 January 2015, Arslan signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. He came on as a substitute for José Sosa on 26 February in the 60th minute of a UEFA Europa League last 32 second leg against Liverpool, and 15 minutes later scored the only goal of the game, taking it to a penalty shootout in which he scored Beşiktaş' last attempt before Dejan Lovren missed to eliminate Liverpool.
Fenerbahçe and Udinese In January 2019 he moved to Fenerbahçe where he will play until June 2020 and then change league by going to Italy for three seasons for Udinese.
Melbourne City On 15 June 2023, his move to Australia was announced, signing a two-year contract with Melbourne City. He made his debut in the Australia Cup against Oakleigh Cannons, in which he scored two penalties in a 3–2 win. His goalscoring run would continue for the next two rounds of the 2023 Australia Cup, with a deflection goal credited to Arslan coming from a shot from Steven Ugarkovic against Wellington Phoenix and a penalty rebound against the North Eastern MetroStars. His departure from the club was then announced on 9 July 2024.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima On 21 July 2024 it was announced that Tolgay had signed for J1 League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima. On 11 August 2024, he scored his first goal for the club against Cerezo Osaka also achieving a brace. On 31 August 2024, he scored a hat-trick in a 3–2 victory over FC Tokyo.
International career Arslan began his career with the Turkey youth teams in 2009. He made two appearances for the U-19 team in 2009. He made his first appearance for the Turkey national under-21 football team against the Republic of Ireland on 7 September 2010.
In December 2010, Arslan switched to the German Football Association. He was first called up to the Germany national under-21 team to face, of all teams, Turkey on 14 November 2012.
Personal life In November 2018, it was decided that Arslan would perform his military service for Turkey in June 2019.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsHamburger SV2009–10Bundesliga5010—00—602011–12Bundesliga8100———812012–13Bundesliga25010———2602013–14Bundesliga32140——103712014–15Bundesliga13020———150Total83280—0010922Alemannia Aachen (loan)2010–112. Bundesliga31640———356Beşiktaş2014–15Süper Lig16031—31—2222015–16Süper Lig6010—00—702016–17Süper Lig30030—100104402017–18Süper Lig29060—60104202018–19Süper Lig8000—8100161Total890131—272201313Fenerbahçe2018–19Süper Lig11000—10—1202019–20Süper Lig13082———212Total24082—10—332Udinese2020–21Serie A30310———3132021–22Serie A30130———3312022–23Serie A36100———361Total66540———705Melbourne City2023–24A League Men241340—62—3415Sanfrecce Hiroshima2024J1 League148212130—21102025J1 League92103050111942026J1 League90——10—100Total3210315190115014Career total31836408514844142550
Honours Beşiktaş Süper Lig: 2015–16, 2016–17
Sanfrecce Hiroshima J.League Cup: 2025 Japanese Super Cup: 2025
Individual PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2023–24 A-Leagues All Star: 2024
References
External links