Birthday Boys- Joe Gomez and Caglar Soyuncu

Today’s edition of the Birthday Boys sees us take a look at the careers of two centre-backs, Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and Leicester City’s Caglar Soyuncu.

Joe Gomez

Credit: Liverpool FC

The defender turns 23 today and has been a loyal servant to Liverpool since joining the club really but, how has his career unfolded so far.

Gomez grew up in London and joined the Charlton youth academy in 2007. In 2014, the youngster got his chance in the first team signing his professional contract for the club that year.

He would make 24 appearances that season for Charlton and looked like a solid defender that many clubs would be after.

In July 2015, then five-time European Champions came after Gomez and signed the youngster for £4 million.

After signing for the club, his first season didn’t consist of many appearances for the Reds only making seven appearances in the first team as the centre-back looked to get used to life at Liverpool.

The 16/17 season would only see the defender make three first team appearances and those would only be in the EFL Cup.

He would be a regular feature in the 17/18 season making 31 appearances for Liverpool either playing as a centre-back or a right-back and starting to look like a solid player for the Reds.

Last season would see Gomez out injured for a while but, he still managed to make 25 appearances for Liverpool that season as they missed out on the Premier League title by a point but, beating Spurs 2-0 in the Champions League final.

This season, Gomez has returned sharp after his injury and has feature 34 times for Liverpool in all competitions and it has been great seeing a fit Gomez back out on the pitch.

Internationally, he has made eight appearances for England with the national team and at 23 his time will come to warant a place in the starting 11.

He’s a Champions League winner, FIFA Club World Cup winner and UEFA Supercup winner with Liverpool and will be fighting for more trophies in the future for the Reds.

Caglar Soyuncu

Credit: Leicester Mercury

The Turkish International turns 24 for today and has been a brick for Leicester this season. One of the upcoming stars for the club but, how did Soyuncu get to the place he is in the present day.

Soyuncu would move from Menemen Youth team to Bucaspor Youth team in 2011 and would make a switch from Bucaspor to Aliaga FK in 2013 to get some first team football under his belt.

After a year and six months of no first team football and just playing U23 football, he then decided to move again in the summer of 2014 to Altinordu on a free transfer.

His first professional season for the Turkish side saw him only make ten appearances in the first team 11 but gave him a flavour of what it was like. His second season saw him play 30 times and brought the best of the defender.

That second season at Altinordu saw Bundesliga team SC Freiburg purchase the player for £2.3 million in the summer of 2016.

The Turk got given plenty of game time in Germany playing 55 times in all competitions across two seasons putting in great shifts at centre-back and becoming a real fans favourite.

Leicester would then pick up the Turkish defender for £19 million in August 2018 as they looked to bolster their squad in the hunt for the top six.

Soyuncu would struggle for game time in the 18/19 season with the defender only playing eight times for Leicester with two appearances coming in the EFL Cup and six in the Premier League.

35 games this season for Leicester has seen the Turkish player create an amazing centre-back partnership with Jonny Evans with the Foxes sat in third in the Premier League.

Internationally, the Turk has made 28 appearances for the Turkish national team and looks to be set as one of the first choices on the team sheet.