Barış Ekincier

Barış Ekincier (; born 24 March 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish club Ümraniyespor. Born in Germany, he has represented Azerbaijan at youth international levels up to the under-21s.

Club career Ekincier began his football career with the youth teams of FC Iserlohn and Rot-Weiss Essen, before joining the VfL Bochum youth academy in 2017. In August 2017, he played for the first team in a friendly match against Bayer Leverkusen.

In June 2018, Ekincier signed his first professional contract with VfL Bochum, lasting two years until 30 June 2020. On 19 August 2018, he appeared for Bochum in the first round of the 2018–19 DFB-Pokal, coming on as a substitute in the 62nd minute for Tom Weilandt in the 1–0 away loss against Regionalliga Nord side Weiche Flensburg. Ekincier made his 2. Bundesliga debut for Bochum on 5 April 2019, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute for Miloš Pantović in the 2–1 away loss against Jahn Regensburg.

On 18 July 2019, it was announced that Ekincier had joined SK Austria Klagenfurt on a season-long loan deal.

International career Ekincier was included in hosts Azerbaijan's squad for the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in May 2016. He appeared in Azerbaijan's first two matches, with the team being eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.