Emre Can (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈemɾe ˈdʒan]; born 12 January 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, which he captains, and the Germany national team.
He began his senior career at Bayern Munich, playing mostly in the club's reserve side before his 2013 transfer to Bayer Leverkusen. A season later, he was signed by Premier League club Liverpool for £9.75 million where he made over 150 appearances across all tiers of competition and would join Juventus in 2018. In 2020 he was loaned to Borussia Dortmund; a few weeks later he moved to the team under a permanent deal.
He represented Germany from U15 to U21, and featured at the 2015 U21 European Championship. He made his senior debut in September 2015 and was selected for the 2016 European Championship. The following year, he was with Germany when they won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, making his first senior international goal.
Born in 1994 in Frankfurt, Can joined local side SV Blau-Gelb Frankfurt at the age of six and remained at the club until 2006, when he joined the youth academy of Eintracht Frankfurt. During his time with both Frankfurt clubs, he predominantly played in midfield where he assumed an attacking role. In 2009, at the age of 15, he relocated to Bavaria after being signed by Bayern Munich.
During his first year in Bayern's academy, Can was used in the centre-back position before returning to midfield when he began playing for Bayern Munich II in the Regionalliga Bayern. He made his first team debut in the 2012 DFL-Supercup and his Bundesliga debut against 1. FC Nürnberg on 13 April 2013. His first and only league goal for the club came on 27 April 2013 in a 1–0 home win over SC Freiburg. Competing with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luiz Gustavo and Javi Martínez for a spot in Bayern's midfield, he ultimately made only seven senior appearances before signing for fellow Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 in search of regular game-time.
On 2 August 2013, Can signed a four-year deal with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. A buy-back clause was included in the agreement which would have allowed Bayern to re-sign Can for a set-fee in 2015, an option they later declined to exercise.
Can made his debut for die Werkself on 31 August 2013, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for Stefan Reinartz in a 2–0 defeat at FC Schalke 04. His first goal for the club came on 26 October when he scored the winner against FC Augsburg in a 2–1 victory. Can made his UEFA Champions League debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford later that month in a match which ended 4–2 in the favour of the English side.
In his only season at Leverkusen, Can scored four goals and made four assists in 39 appearances, while largely operating in a defensive capacity. His performances while at Leverkusen sparked interest from English club Liverpool, who noted Can's performances in both the Bundesliga and Champions League.
On 5 June 2014, Bayer Leverkusen confirmed that Can would join Liverpool after the Merseyside club activated his £9.75 million (€12 million) release clause. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers described Can in a press conference later in the week as an "inspirational young talent". The transfer was completed on 3 July 2014.
Can made his competitive debut for the club on 25 August 2014, coming on as a substitute for Joe Allen in a 3–1 away defeat against Manchester City. The following month, he picked up an ankle injury while on duty with the German under-21 side and was sidelined for six weeks. On 19 October, following his return from injury, Can made his first start for Liverpool in a 3–2 win against Queens Park Rangers.
He scored his first Liverpool goal on 8 November with a long-range shot past Thibaut Courtois, opening the scoring in an eventual 2–1 defeat to Chelsea. Against the same opponent in a League Cup semi-final defeat on 27 January 2015, Can was stamped on by Chelsea forward Diego Costa; referee Michael Oliver did not penalize the incident, but Costa was retrospectively banned for three matches by the FA. In April, Can received his first red card for Liverpool in 4–1 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Though naturally a midfielder, Can spent much of his debut season playing in defence, and ultimately featured 40 times for the campaign across all competitions.
On 22 October 2015, in Liverpool's UEFA Europa League match against Rubin Kazan at Anfield, Can scored his first goal of the 2015–16 season. It was the club's first goal under the management of Can's compatriot and new manager Jürgen Klopp. On 14 February 2016, he scored his first league goal of the season in a 6–0 win over Aston Villa. While Can was often used at centre-back or full-back under Rodgers, with Klopp's arrival he was moved to his preferred position of central midfielder. He was praised by Klopp for his improvement and became a key cog in Liverpool's midfield.
On 14 April 2016, Can ruptured his ankle ligaments in the Europa League quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund. Initially, he was ruled out for the rest of the domestic season. However, he returned ahead of schedule and played in the second leg of the semi-final against Villarreal. Can later revealed that he trained for 8 hours a day for 3 weeks to get fit for the Villarreal game.
On 29 October 2016, Can scored his first goal of the season, scoring the opening goal in Liverpool's 4–2 win over Crystal Palace. On 6 November, Can scored Liverpool's third goal in their 6–1 win over Watford, which took Liverpool to 1st position in the Premier League for the first time under Jürgen Klopp. On 4 December, Can scored in Liverpool's 4–3 defeat to Bournemouth. On 12 March 2017, Can scored the winning goal in Liverpool's 2–1 win over Burnley, in what was called by Klopp an "ugly win". On 1 May 2017, Can scored an overhead kick in a 1–0 win over Watford, with the strike later earning him the BBC Goal of the Season and Carling Goal of the Season awards.
On 23 August 2017, Can scored twice against Hoffenheim in the second leg of the Champions League play-off round in a 4–2 win for Liverpool on the night, and a 6–3 win on aggregate. These were his first goals for Liverpool in the new season. Can received praise for his performance during Liverpool's 4–0 win over Arsenal on 27 August. On 1 November, Can scored in Liverpool's 3–0 win over Slovenian side Maribor. His first league goal of the season came in a 5–1 away win over Brighton & Hove Albion, where he played at centre-back.
On 30 January 2018, Can scored the opening goal in Liverpool's 3–0 win over Huddersfield Town at the Kirklees Stadium. On 24 February, he scored the opener in Liverpool's 4–1 win over West Ham United. On 17 March, during a game against Watford, Can suffered a muscle injury in his back, and it was reported that he could potentially miss the rest of the season out injured. Can returned in time for the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final against Real Madrid, but was only named on the bench. He came on as a substitute for James Milner in the 83rd minute. Liverpool lost the match by a scoreline of 3–1.
On 8 June 2018, it was confirmed by Liverpool via their official website that Can, along with Jon Flanagan and several youth players, would leave the club upon the expiry of their contracts, on 1 July 2018.
On 21 June 2018, Can signed a four-year deal with Serie A side Juventus following the expiration of his contract with Liverpool; the Italian club paid €16 million in additional costs for his services. Can became the tenth German player, after Hans Mayer Heuberger, Josef Edmund Heß, Helmut Haller, Thomas Häßler, Stefan Reuter, Jürgen Kohler, Andreas Möller, Sami Khedira, and Benedikt Höwedes, to join Juventus. A €50 million release clause was also included in Can's contract, only valid for clubs outside of Italy and starting from his third year of contract; this was the first time that Juventus had added a release clause to one of its player's contracts. He made his Serie A debut on 18 August, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 away win against Chievo Verona. On 21 January 2019, Can scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 home victory over the same opponents.