Former Liverpool midfielder Nuri Sahin is celebrating his 33rd birthday on Sunday.
The 33-year-old has played for some of the biggest names in world football including the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, and of course Liverpool.
Sahin now plays his club football in Turkey with Super Lig side Antalyaspor, where he has been since 2020.
But the central midfielder has endured a mixed career which has seen him thrown out of training, build a strong relationship with Klopp, join Real Madrid, as well as endure a miserable loan spell at Liverpool.
Here, Mirror Sport take a look back on some of the highlights in Sahin’s footballing career.
Chucked out of training
The midfielder still can’t remember the specific date, but the important details he knows is that he was thrown out of training after an altercation with a team-mate.
Sahin was playing at Borussia Dortmund at the time under then-manager Jurgen Klopp when the incident occurred.
“It was either 2009 or 2010,” the former Turkey midfielder told Goal in May.
“He [Klopp] told me to leave, because I had an argument with another player.
“I was young and I thought I knew everything. I was sure I was in the right, 100 per cent, but he told me to go, so I went.
“So, the next day I came in and I thought ‘OK, maybe it’s the end for me here’, you know? I thought he would put me out of the squad or whatever. But he came in and it was like nothing had happened.
“It was a moment for me to realise that I would have him on my side even when I was in the wrong. It’s powerful when you realise that about your coach.”
Sahin was a mainstay in a Dortmund team that become Bundesliga champions in 2011 under Klopp and the midfielder would remain at the club until he secured a move to one of the biggest names in world football in 2011…
Relationship with Klopp
But despite the isolated training ground bust-up, Sahin was thankfully never chucked out again.
Instead, he is a huge admirer of Klopp and the pair built up a strong relationship together during his time at Dortmund.
“I think people are maybe bored of me talking about him!” Sahin said.
“But he had such a big influence on me, as he does on all his players.
“Ask any of the guys at Dortmund, at Mainz, at Liverpool now, they’ll tell you the same.”
Sahin joins Los Blancos
However, in 2011 Real Madrid called and presented Sahin with an opportunity he simply couldn’t refuse.
Sahin became the first big name player from the Klopp side to leave the club, with Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan and Mats Hummels later following the midfielder through the exit door.
The Turkey international left the club that had given him his breakthrough and headed to the Spanish capital for a reported fee of €10million (£8.5m).
But despite the expectation on the shoulders of Sahin, the move unfortunately did not work out in the way it was hoped.
Sahin would leave the club three years later after making just four La Liga appearances in 2011-12, while he spent the remaining three campaigns on loan at Liverpool and Dortmund respectively.
Liverpool loan misery
Sahin played out the second half of the 2012-13 season at Anfield, where he made just seven Premier League appearances under then-manager Brendan Rodgers.
The midfielder criticised Rodgers - who it's fair to say Sahin is not the biggest fan of - for playing him out of position during the six months he spent at the club.
And Sahin didn’t hold back when asked about his time at Liverpool during an interview with Spanish outlet AS in 2013.
"I did not fail at Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers wanted me to play as a number 10. But I do not play behind the strikers.
"I talked to him and asked him why he was playing me there. It is not my real position. The coach could not answer me … Still, no regrets. To play at Anfield was a wonderful experience.
"And maybe if I had not gone there I would not have been able to return to Borussia Dortmund. For that, I am happy. Thank God I have left Brendan Rodgers.
