“Memo” Aydin after Turkey nomination – long-term goal Premier League

Schalkes Mehmet Can Aydin has been nominated for Turkey. He is very happy about that. At S04 too. But his long-term goal is different.

Schalke player Mehmet Can Aydin has been called up by Stefan Kuntz, the German coach of the Turkish national team, for Turkey’s international matches for the European Championship qualifiers in Armenia on 25 March and against Croatia on 28 March.

Aydin, who has been through all the DFB youth national teams from U15 to U20, decided to play for Turkey at senior level, he had told WAZ and RevierSport exclusively last week.

He was only waiting for his Turkish passport. It now seems to have arrived. So there is nothing standing in the way of the 21-year-old, who still has the DFB logo next to the S04 symbol on his Instagram profile, making his debut for Turkey.

He has now commented in the Turkish sports newspaper “Hürriyet Spor Arena” following the nomination. “I am very happy that Stefan Kuntz and my big brother Hamit (Altintop, the ed.) have given me this great opportunity. My family and friends are all very happy. For all of us it is a very big honour,” said Aydin. “Above all, it is a great honour for me to play for Turkey.”

As a child, he said, he followed the great Turkish players like Halil and Hamit Altintop, Ilkay Gündogan and Hakan Calhanoglu. He said he was sure he could still learn a lot in the national team.

FC Augsburg - FC Schalke 0418 March 2023 — FC Augsburg – FC Schalke 0418 March 2023

At the same time, he renewed his statement that he does not want to move to one of the bigger Turkish clubs, as he feels very much at home at Schalke. He is sure that he is exactly right there at the moment. It has always been his dream to play at Schalke. He feels that coach Thomas Reis trusts him. He will do everything in his power to keep Schalke in the Bundesliga.

However, the Königsblauen, from whose Knappenschmiede he comes, will probably only be a transit station for him. His goal is to compete in European football. The big goal is the Premier League: “I want to prove myself in European football to improve even more. My goal is to play in the Premier League one day,” said Aydin.