BFW Series: What ever happened to...Serdar Taşçı?

Whatever happened to former Bayern Munich defender Serdar Taşçı? He won die Meisterschaft twice with two different teams. Yes, that’s how you know that this man has not been around for a while. From winning titles to playing for Germany at a World Cup, Taşçı is far from being unsuccessful, but let’s dive a little deeper into his career.

Taşçı had a successful seven-year stint at VfB Stuttgart with more than 240 appearances and he contributed to the team winning the league title in 2006/2007. The young man even caught the attention of Joachim Löw and was called up to the German National team. He made 14 appearances for the senior team between 2008 and 2010. He even had an appearance in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where he played for one minute in the third-place play-off against Uruguay which Germany won 3-2.

In 2013, Spartak Moscow was interested in Taşçı, and being in his mid-20s, he decided to make a move to Russia. While he stayed there until 2018, he was sent to Bayern Munich in 2016 on a loan. He only made it to three appearances in that year’s Bundesliga season and accumulated 220 played minutes. Despite only participating in three games, in 2015/2016, he obtained the Double winning die Meisterschale and the DFB-Pokal with Bayern. Talk about efficiency!

At the end of the season, Bayern was not satisfied with the player’s performance, and Taşçı was unhappy with the lack of playing time. The two parties decided to go separate ways, and Taşçı returned to Spartak Moscow where he ended up winning the 2017 Russian Premier League with Spartak as well as the 2017/2018 Russian Super Cup. When his contract expired in 2018, the was without a club for half a year.

In 2019, Taşçı moved to İstanbul Başakşehir in Turkey where his parents are from. Though it was his dream to play in Turkey, he only appeared in four matches. He rejected offers from China, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia as well as from two clubs in Turkey. Though Taşçı never officially retired, he has not found a new club, and as the man is about to turn 36 in a couple of months, the likelihood seems low. But you never know. He may return to the Bundesliga in a different function.