Tuğrul Erat

Tuğrul Erat — Biography

Tuğrul Erat was born on 17 June 1992 in Nettetal, Germany, into a Turkish family. The 1.93 m midfielder began playing at his hometown club SC Union Nettetal and moved to the Fortuna Düsseldorf youth system in 2009. He stepped up to the under-19 side in 2010 and then joined the reserve team in the fourth tier. He made his debut against Schalke 04's reserves on 7 May 2011 and scored his first goal a couple of weeks later in a 3-2 win over VfL Bochum's reserves.

In December 2013 he was promoted to the first team in the 2. Bundesliga. He made his debut against Kaiserslautern on 9 December, and a week later set up a goal against Energie Cottbus and then scored the winner in the 83rd minute. In 2016 he signed a two-year contract with MSV Duisburg, leaving at the end of the 2017-18 season. He later played for SV 19 Straelen, Fatih Karagümrük and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, and returned to Union Nettetal.

He came to represent Azerbaijan after Bernhard Lippert, the German coach of the Azerbaijan under-21 side, asked for him; he had no earlier connection to the country. In the European Under-21 Championship qualifiers he scored three goals in four matches, and since 2014 he has won four caps for the senior national team. He has explained that he chose Azerbaijan for the chance to gain international experience.