There is a moment every generation of Juventus supporters remembers: the first time a boy in black and white does something that makes the stadium gasp. For the generation now filling the Allianz Stadium, that moment arrived on a cold December night in Frosinone in 2023, when an 18-year-old slalomed past two defenders and lashed the ball past the goalkeeper at the near post. And then it happened again — and again. The brace against Inter in the Derby d’Italia. The curling strike that broke Alessandro Del Piero’s Champions League record. The No. 10 shirt, once worn by Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio, and Del Piero himself, handed to a teenager.
Today, in October 2026, Kenan Yıldız is 21 years old and wears that number 10 for Juventus. He is Serie A’s reigning Best Under-23 Player, a Turkish international with more than 30 caps, and one of the cornerstones around which Juventus are building their future. Giorgio Chiellini, the granite-hard defender turned club director, put it in the starkest terms imaginable: “Yildiz would have played in any Juventus team of the last 40 years.”
But the story of how he got here is the real drama: a decade inside the machine of Bayern Munich, a brave walk away from the champions of Germany as a free agent, and a gamble on Turin that has turned into one of European football’s great coming-of-age tales.
A Bavarian Beginning: Regensburg, 2005
Kenan Yıldız was born on 4 May 2005 in Regensburg, a medieval Bavarian city on the Danube in southern Germany. His father, Engin Yıldız, is Turkish; his mother, Beate Hackl-Yildiz, is German. Football lived in the house from the start — Kenan has said he started playing at three — and his father’s influence was decisive. Engin was a self-taught footballer who never got his own chance in youth football back in Türkiye, so he poured his knowledge into his son.
After first organized games with local clubs Sallern Regensburg and Jahn Regensburg, Bayern Munich scouts spotted him — at just seven years old. In 2012, Kenan Yıldız entered the youth academy of the biggest club in Germany.
Ten Years in Munich’s Machine
Yıldız spent the entirety of his formative years at Bayern, progressing through every age group and often wearing the captain’s armband. In the 2021–22 season he delivered six goals and eight assists in 20 regional league matches at U17 and U19 level. The Guardian included him among the 60 best players born in 2005 in its “Next Generation” list.
And yet, when his Bayern contract expired in July 2022, there was no new deal, and no clear first-team pathway. Barcelona and Juventus both moved for the free agent. On 12 July 2022, Juventus confirmed the signing. A 17-year-old had walked away from the German champions — and straight into the most demanding dressing room in Italy.
The Gamble on Turin
Yıldız’s professional debut came on 17 December 2022, off the bench for Juventus Next Gen against Virtus Verona. Then came the leap. On 20 August 2023, Massimiliano Allegri sent the 18-year-old on as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 away win at Udinese: his Serie A debut. On 23 December 2023, Allegri gave him his first start, away at Frosinone. After 12 minutes, Yıldız collected the ball, slalomed past two Frosinone defenders, and lashed home at the near post. Juventus won 2–1, and the teenager became the club’s youngest foreign goalscorer in Serie A history at 18 years and 233 days.
He scored on his first start in the Coppa Italia too, and lifted the Coppa Italia that spring, his first senior trophy.
The Number 10: Records Fall in 2024–25
In August 2024, Juventus gave the No. 10 shirt to a 19-year-old — the number of Platini, Baggio, and Del Piero, reportedly Yıldız’s childhood idol — alongside a new contract through 2029.
On 17 September 2024, in a 3–1 Champions League win over PSV Eindhoven, Yıldız scored a spectacular curling effort — becoming the youngest goalscorer in Juventus’ Champions League history, taking the record from Del Piero himself. Then, on 27 October 2024, he came off the bench and scored twice in a wild 4–4 Derby d’Italia draw with Inter at San Siro — the youngest player ever to score a double in the Derby d’Italia.
He finished the season with 12 goals and nine assists in 52 appearances across all competitions — the constant in a turbulent campaign.
Turkey’s Golden Generation
Kenan chose Türkiye, the country of his father, over Germany. The senior call came in October 2023, and a month later, in Berlin, he scored his first senior international goal against Germany in a 3–2 friendly win. He played every game as Türkiye reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, and in the spring of 2026 played a direct role in taking them to the World Cup for the first time in 24 years.
The Now: Best Under-23 in Italy
Named Serie A’s Best Under-23 Player in May 2026, Yıldız scored ten goals and provided six assists in 33 league appearances in 2025–26, and in February 2026 extended his Juventus contract until 2030. The 2026–27 season began with a minor calf injury — the first real setback of his senior career — but Juventus’ season will need him.
How He Plays
Yıldız is an attacking midfielder or winger who drifts between the lines like the old-fashioned No. 10s. At 1.87m he is tall for a playmaker, comfortable on both feet, and most dangerous cutting in from the left onto his right foot. His game is built on technical intelligence rather than raw pace — and his habit of scoring on debuts, in finals, and in derbies marks him out as a mentality monster.
The Legacy-in-Progress
The boy from Regensburg who idolized Del Piero, who walked away from Bayern Munich’s academy, who took Del Piero’s shirt and then Del Piero’s records. He is 21, locked into Juventus until 2030, and the face of a Turkish golden generation. The calf will heal. The goals will come.