Tolgay Ali Arslan is a German-Turkish

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 professional footballer. He currently plays for Hamburger SV

Hamburger SV

Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...

.

Early life and club career

Arslan was born in Paderborn

Paderborn

Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...

 to Turkish parents from Çorum

Çorum

Çorum is a landlocked northern Anatolian city that is the capital of the Çorum Province of Turkey. Çorum is located inland in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey, and is approximately from Ankara and from Istanbul...

; his father, a real estate agent, moved to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 when he was 11 years old. He began playing football at the age of four, 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

Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Yazid Zidane is a retired French footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Zidane was a leading figure of a generation of French players that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship...

 and Gheorghe Hagi

Gheorghe Hagi

Gheorghe Hagi is a former Romanian footballer. He was famous for his passing, close control, long shots and was regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s and is considered the greatest Romanian footballer of all time...

, Arslan earned a move to Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund

Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...

 in 2003. After several years in Dortmund's youth team, Arslan moved to Hamburger SV

Hamburger SV

Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...

.

Hamburger SV

Arslan moved to Hamburger SV

Hamburger SV

Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...

 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

Marcus Berg

Marcus Berg is a Swedish football striker who currently plays for German Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. He is nicknamed Svarte-Marcus due to scoring a lot of goals in the junior teams, in reference to Filip "Svarte-Filip" Johansson....

 in the second round of the DFB Cup against Osnabrück

VfL Osnabrück

VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis, but is by far best known for its football section.- Foundation to WW2 :...

. 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

Alemannia Aachen

Alemannia Aachen is a German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long term fixture of the country's second division, Alemannia enjoyed a three-year turn in the top flight in the late 1960s and, after a successful 2005–06 campaign, returned to first division play...

 for the 2010–11 season and scored his first goal for the club in the fifth week of the 2. Bundesliga

2. Fußball-Bundesliga

- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...

 in a 3-1 win against FSV Frankfurt

FSV Frankfurt

FSV Frankfurt is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hesse and founded in 1899. The club plays in the shadow of larger and much more successful Eintracht Frankfurt, which has recently returned to 2nd tier football...

.

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

Turkey national under-21 football team

Turkey's national Under-21 football team , also known as Turkey Under-21s or Turkey U-21s, is the Under-21 years of age team of the Turkey national football team.-History:...

 against the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team

The Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team, is the national under-21 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland and competes in the biennial European Under-21 Football Championship and has competed since 1978.-Competition...

 on 7 September 2010.

External links

• Career stats at Fussballdaten.de