Serdar Aziz

Serdar Aziz — Biography

Born on 23 October 1990 in the Osmangazi district of Bursa to a father of Turkish descent born in Macedonia and a mother born in Bursa, Serdar Aziz is a Turkish international footballer who plays as a centre-back and can also cover right-back. Originally played in midfield at Bursaspor's youth academy because of his small stature, he was moved into defence once his technique was judged unsuited to midfield, was loaned to Merinosspor for the 2007-08 season, made his professional league debut against Fenerbahçe on 25 October 2008, and was part of the squad that won the Süper Lig with Bursaspor in 2009-10.

He broke through under coach Şenol Güneş in the 2014-15 season, being named to the league's team of the season, though Bursaspor lost the Turkish Cup and Super Cup finals that year to Galatasaray. In July 2016 he transferred to Galatasaray for a fee of €4.5 million plus three players, winning the Süper Lig with the club in 2017-18 and the Super Cup in 2016.

He joined Fenerbahçe on a free transfer in January 2019 and became a regular fixture in central defence, signed a new three-year contract with the club in May 2022, scored his first European goal against Nordsjælland in September 2023, and left the club by mutual agreement with coach Jose Mourinho in July 2024. He made his senior national team debut on 16 November 2014 against Kazakhstan and scored in that match; he turned down a call-up from the Macedonia national team in favor of representing Turkey, and injury kept him out of the squad for the 2016 European Championship.