Sami Khedira (German: [ˈsaːmiː 'kɛdiːʁaː]; Arabic: سامي خضيرة; born 4 April 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He is currently the assistant coach of La Liga club Real Madrid.
Khedira began his career at VfB Stuttgart, winning the Bundesliga in 2007, before moving to Real Madrid in 2010. In his five seasons in Spain, he won seven domestic and international trophies, including the UEFA Champions League in 2014. In 2015, he moved to Serie A club Juventus on a free transfer, and won the Serie A title and Coppa Italia in his first three seasons with the club, followed by two more league titles and a Supercoppa Italiana.
A full international for Germany since 2009, Khedira earned 77 caps for the national team. He has taken part at three FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships with Germany, and was part of their squads which reached the semi-finals at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 2012 and 2016 UEFA European Football Championships; he also won the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Before joining the youth team of VfB Stuttgart in 1995, he played at TV Oeffingen. In the first months of the 2006–07 season, he was called up into VfB's Bundesliga squad by manager Armin Veh. His debut followed on 1 October 2006 against Hertha BSC, replacing Antônio da Silva at the end of the 2–2 away draw. He scored his first two goals on 29 October in the 3–0 win against Schalke 04 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. On 29 January 2007 he signed his first professional contract at VfB, valid until June 2009. In the last game of the season on 19 May, Khedira scored the winner as Die Schwaben came from behind to defeat Energie Cottbus 2–1 and became champions for the first time in 15 years.
On 9 July 2008, he extended his contract until the summer of 2011. In the ensuing season, he scored a career-best 7 league goals in 27 games, including both in a 2–2 draw against Bayern Munich on 13 December.
On 30 July 2010, Khedira moved to La Liga club Real Madrid after 98 Bundesliga appearances for an undisclosed fee, signing a contract until 2015. Khedira made his debut on 13 August in a friendly match against Bayern Munich, which Real Madrid won 4–2 on penalties for the Franz-Beckenbauer-Cup. His league debut came sixteen days later, in a 0–0 away draw against Mallorca. He made 40 appearances across his first season in Spain and won his first club honour on 20 April 2011 as his team won the Copa del Rey final against El Clásico rivals Barcelona.
He scored his first competitive goal for Real Madrid in the Champions League, on 18 October 2011 against Lyon. He scored his first Copa del Rey goal against Málaga in a 3–2 home win when Real Madrid were trailing behind 0–2, and his first league goal against Espanyol in a 5–0 home win.
On 21 April 2012, Khedira scored his second league goal, against Barcelona; the goal was Real Madrid's 108th of the season in the league, breaking the previous La Liga record of 107, also set by them in the 1989–90 season.
On 24 May 2014, Khedira was in the starting 11 against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final, in which Real Madrid won 4-1.
On 9 June 2015, Serie A club Juventus announced that Khedira had signed a four-year deal on a free transfer. The move was completed on 1 July, at the start of the 2015–16 season.
On 1 August, Khedira was stretchered off the pitch after just 25 minutes while playing in a pre-season friendly match against Marseille with a hamstring injury and was ruled out of the Supercoppa Italiana a week later against Lazio. Two days later Juventus confirmed that it was actually a muscle tear in his right thigh, and that he would be sidelined for approximately two months. He was called back to action on 30 September as he started in a Champions League group stage match in a 2–0 win over Sevilla. On 4 October, Khedira made his Serie A debut, starting and scoring the final goal of a 3–1 home win against Bologna in the 63rd minute.
On 20 March 2016, Khedira scored his fourth goal of the league season in a 4–1 win at Torino in the Derby della Mole, but was given a straight red card for dissent later on.
On 20 August 2016, Khedira opened the 2016–17 Serie A season with a goal in a 2–1 home win over Fiorentina. A week later he scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win over Lazio in the league.
On 22 October 2017, Khedira scored his first career hat-trick in a 6–2 away win over Udinese.
On 7 March 2018, Khedira made his 100th appearance for Juventus in a 2–1 win over Tottenham at Wembley Stadium, in the second leg of the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, assisting Gonzalo Higuaín's goal.
In September 2018, Khedira signed a new contract with Juventus, which would keep him at the team until 2021. In February 2019 he was ruled out for a month to undergo treatment after it was diagnosed that he suffered from an irregular heartbeat. He returned to action on 6 April, coming as a substitute for his injured compatriot Emre Can in a 2–1 home win over AC Milan.
On 1 February 2021, Khedira returned to the Bundesliga, signing for Hertha BSC. On 5 February 2021, he made his debut in a 0–1 defeat against Bayern Munich. On 19 May 2021, he announced that he would retire at the end of the 2020–21 season.
Khedira has appeared 30 times for several German youth national teams; he captained the under-21 side during the 2009 European Under-21 Championship, which Germany won, defeating England 4–0 in the final.