1. Overview
Marko Marin (Марко МаринMarko MarinSerbian), born on 13 March 1989, is a German former professional footballer who primarily played as an attacking midfielder and left winger. Known for his exceptional acceleration, dribbling, agility, creativity, versatility, technical skill, and playmaking ability, he was often nicknamed the "German Messi" due to his playing style being compared to that of Lionel Messi. After a career spanning numerous clubs across Europe and beyond, Marin transitioned into a technical director role at Red Star Belgrade. His club journey included spells at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Werder Bremen, Chelsea, Olympiacos, and Ferencváros, among others. Marin also represented the German national team from 2008 to 2010, earning 16 caps and contributing to their third-place finish at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
2. Early Life
Marko Marin was born on 13 March 1989, in Bosanska Gradiška, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia (modern-day Gradiška, Bosnia and Herzegovina). His parents, Borka Marin and Ranko Marin, were Bosnian Serbs. His father, Ranko, was a footballer who played as a right-back for FK Sloga Dipo in Gornji Podgradci.
When Marin was just two years old, in 1991, his family relocated to Germany and settled in Frankfurt due to his mother's employment. Growing up in Frankfurt, Marin began his football journey with local clubs. His childhood football idol was Dejan Savićević, and his favorite club was Red Star Belgrade. At the age of seven, he joined the Eintracht Frankfurt academy. However, at 16, a Frankfurt academy coordinator reportedly told him he was too small to become a professional footballer, leading Marin to decide to leave Frankfurt and move to Mönchengladbach.
3. Club Career
Marko Marin's professional club career spanned over a decade, taking him to numerous teams across various European leagues and beyond, often involving multiple loan spells from his parent club, Chelsea.
3.1. Youth career
Marin began his footballing career as a youth player, first with SG 01 Hoechst and then, at the age of seven, with Eintracht Frankfurt. Despite his young age, Marin was a dominant player in his teams, frequently being named the best player in tournaments and scoring many goals. After an academy coordinator at Frankfurt suggested he was too small for professional football at 16, Marin decided to move to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2005.
3.2. Borussia Mönchengladbach
Marin joined the Borussia Mönchengladbach youth academy in 2005. After one year at the academy, he was promoted to the reserve team. A year later, he signed a three-year professional contract and was promoted to the first team, which competed in the Bundesliga. He made his professional debut for the club on 31 March 2007, at the age of 18, in a 1-1 draw against his former club, Eintracht Frankfurt. On 9 August 2008, Marin scored a hat-trick within the first 16 minutes of Mönchengladbach's 8-1 thrashing of seventh-division club VfB Fichte Bielefeld in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Marin completed 68 appearances for Borussia Mönchengladbach, scoring 8 goals.
3.3. Werder Bremen
On 24 June 2009, Marin was transferred from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Werder Bremen for a fee of approximately 8.20 M EUR. He signed a four-year contract. Marin became a key part of Bremen's sharp attacking trio, alongside Aaron Hunt and Mesut Özil, which illuminated the Weserstadion. In the 2010-11 season, he showcased his quality, scoring four league goals and providing 11 assists.
However, following Özil's departure to Real Madrid in August 2010, Marin's form noticeably declined, as he managed only one goal and five assists during Bremen's 2011-12 Bundesliga campaign. Despite this, Marin demonstrated his skill in Bremen's eight-goal thriller against SC Freiburg on 20 August 2011, providing assists for Claudio Pizarro, Marko Arnautović, and Wesley in a dramatic 5-3 victory.
Marin's sole Bundesliga goal of the 2011-12 campaign came on 18 February 2012, when he opened the scoring in the ninth minute of a 3-1 derby victory over Hamburger SV at the Imtech Arena. In Marin's final game for Bremen on 13 April, he delivered the decisive pass for Markus Rosenberg's goal, but it was not enough as his side succumbed to a 4-1 away defeat to VfB Stuttgart. Marin concluded his time with Werder Bremen having scored eight goals in 87 Bundesliga appearances.
3.4. Chelsea
On 28 April 2012, Marin agreed to a deal with English Premier League club Chelsea, signing a five-year contract that would keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2017. The transfer fee was reported to be around 8.00 M EUR. He was assigned the number 21 shirt, previously worn by Salomon Kalou.
3.4.1. 2012-13 season
On 18 July 2012, Marin made his debut for Chelsea in a pre-season friendly against Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders FC, providing an assist and scoring Chelsea's third goal in a 4-2 victory at Lumen Field. He missed the Community Shield due to a hamstring injury.
Marin made his competitive debut for Chelsea in a League Cup match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 25 September, coming on as a substitute for Juan Mata as Chelsea cruised to a 6-0 victory. His Premier League debut came on 28 November, replacing Eden Hazard in the 82nd minute of a 0-0 draw in the West London derby at home to Fulham. On 2 January 2013, Marin made his first start for Chelsea in a 0-1 loss to local rivals Queens Park Rangers. On 9 February 2013, Marin scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea, entering the game in the 91st minute and scoring with a header on his first touch in the 92nd minute, contributing to a 4-1 home victory over Wigan Athletic. Marin also made a substitute appearance in the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup final against SC Corinthians, which Chelsea lost 1-0.
3.4.2. Loan to Sevilla
On 28 June 2013, Chelsea confirmed an agreement for Marin's season-long loan to Sevilla. Marin scored his first goal for Sevilla in a 3-1 friendly win over Manchester United during Rio Ferdinand's testimonial match. He netted two goals in Sevilla's first-leg Europa League play-off tie against Śląsk Wrocław, a 4-1 home victory on 22 August. Marin started on the bench in the Europa League final, coming on late in the second half and then being substituted in extra time as Sevilla defeated Benfica 4-2 in a penalty shootout. With this victory, Marin won the Europa League in back-to-back seasons, having won it the year prior with his parent club, Chelsea. He became only the second player in history, after Radamel Falcao, to achieve consecutive Europa League titles with different clubs.
3.4.3. Loan to Fiorentina
On 18 August 2014, Fiorentina confirmed an agreement for Marin's season-long loan from Chelsea with an option to buy. On 23 October, Marin made his debut for Fiorentina in a Europa League match against PAOK. He scored his first goal for La Viola on 27 November 2014, in a Europa League match against Guingamp, clipping home the opening goal from Aquilani's pass in the sixth minute, as Fiorentina secured a 2-1 win. On 11 December 2014, Marin scored again in a 2-1 loss against Dinamo Minsk. Despite being on the bench 12 times, Marin failed to make a single appearance in Serie A before his loan spell was terminated early in January 2015.
3.4.4. Loan to Anderlecht
On 20 January 2015, following his unsuccessful loan spell at Fiorentina, Marin joined Belgian club Anderlecht for the remainder of the season, with an option to buy. Five days after moving to Belgium, Marin made his debut, coming off the bench to replace Maxime Colin in the 75th minute in a 2-0 loss to Standard Liège. Marin was in the starting lineup for the Belgian Cup Final, but he was substituted in the second half after suffering a hamstring injury as Anderlecht lost 2-1 to Club Brugge. Anderlecht decided not to exercise their option to buy Marin at the end of the season due to the hamstring injury, which ruled him out for several weeks.
3.4.5. Loan to Trabzonspor
On 25 August 2015, Marin joined Turkish club Trabzonspor on a season-long loan, with an option to buy. On 30 August, Marin made his debut for Trabzonspor in a 2-2 draw against Akhisar Belediyespor, coming on as a second-half substitute. On 26 September 2015, Marin scored his first goal with the Turkish side in a 3-1 loss against Osmanlıspor. On 15 February 2016, Marin scored in a 2-1 win over Kayserispor. In an interview with kicker, Marin expressed his appreciation towards Chelsea for taking care of him since his move to London and stated he had no regrets about his move to Chelsea, although he acknowledged that his future would likely be elsewhere.
3.5. Olympiacos
On 23 August 2016, Marin joined Greek side Olympiacos on a three-year deal, ending his four-year tenure with Chelsea, much of which was spent on loan. On 11 September 2016, Marin made his debut in a 6-1 victory against Veria. After being sidelined for about two months due to manager Paulo Bento not featuring him in his first-team plans, he returned to action on 5 January 2017, netting the winning goal in a 2-1 home comeback win over Asteras Tripolis.
On 17 December 2017, Marin's impressive long-range effort secured a 1-0 victory for Olympiacos against PAS Giannina. This marked the sixth consecutive victory for manager Takis Lemonis's team, propelling the Reds to the first position in the Super League Greece with 32 points after 15 matches, one more than rivals AEK and PAOK. On 7 January 2018, he opened the scoring in a 3-0 away win against AEL, helping his club achieve their seventh successive win in their pursuit of an eighth consecutive league title. Marin won the Super League Greece title with Olympiacos. In two seasons, he recorded 59 appearances, 12 goals, and 10 assists across all competitions.
3.6. Red Star Belgrade
After Red Star Belgrade qualified for the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League group stage (their first appearance in its current format), Marin signed a three-year contract with the club on 1 September 2018, for an estimated transfer fee of 700.00 K EUR, being registered in the final hours of the summer transfer window in Serbia.
Marin scored a goal on his debut with Red Star on 15 September 2018, in a 6-0 home victory against Radnik Surdulica. On 3 October 2018, Marin became the club's first-ever goal scorer in the UEFA Champions League after netting a consolation goal in a 6-1 loss against Paris Saint-Germain. Almost three weeks later, on 6 November 2018, Marin was once again instrumental in Red Star's historic first Champions League campaign, providing two assists for Milan Pavkov's brace in their memorable 2-0 win against Liverpool. On 13 March 2019, Marin agreed to extend his contract with Red Star until the summer of 2021. Marin was voted MVP in the 2018-19 season and was also included in the Team of the Season. Before the start of the 2019-20 season, Red Star's general director Zvezdan Terzić confirmed that Marin would become the new club captain. In one and a half seasons with Red Star, he made 58 appearances, scoring 11 goals and providing 24 assists across all competitions.
3.7. Al-Ahli
On 5 January 2020, Marin signed for the Saudi Arabian club, Al-Ahli, on a contract worth 6.00 M EUR until the summer of 2022, with an estimated transfer fee of 2.50 M EUR. He made his debut nine days later, coming on as a substitute in the 67th minute and assisting Al-Ahli's final goal in a 3-1 victory over Abha in the Saudi Professional League.
He scored his first goal for Al-Ahli on 14 September 2020, netting the only goal in a victory against Al-Shorta in the group stage of the 2020 AFC Champions League, which secured Al-Ahli's qualification for the round of 16. At the end of the season, Marin helped Al-Ahli finish third in the Saudi Professional League, having made 17 appearances and scored 2 goals and 2 assists across all competitions.
3.7.1. Loan to Al-Raed
In February 2021, Marin joined fellow Saudi Arabian club Al-Raed on loan until the end of the 2020-21 season. This move reunited him with his former Olympiacos manager, Besnik Hasi. He made his debut on 12 February, starting in a 2-1 loss to Al-Batin. On 22 February, he provided an assist to help his team secure a 3-0 win over Abha. He made another assist in the following match against Al-Ain. On 9 April, Marin assisted Arnaud Djoum's goal, the third for Al-Raed, in a 3-2 victory over his parent club, Al-Ahli.
3.8. Ferencváros
In September 2021, Marin transferred to Hungarian club Ferencváros on a free transfer. The Hungarian league became the ninth top-flight league in his career, though he did not feature in Serie A during his loan at Fiorentina.
He made his debut for Ferencváros on 3 October 2021, coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 victory against Paksi SE. He made his first start on 7 November, scoring Ferencváros's third goal in a 4-0 win against Kisvárda. On 4 May 2022, Marin scored his second goal for Ferencváros, netting the final goal in a 5-3 victory over Zalaegerszeg. He successfully helped Ferencváros win both the NB I and the Magyar Kupa during the 2021-22 season, making 19 appearances with 2 goals and 1 assist across all competitions.
At the end of the 2021-22 season, Marin decided to retire from professional football at the age of 33, having played for 12 professional clubs throughout his career.
4. International Career
In 2010, Marko Marin stated that he had never received a call-up from either the Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia national teams, leading him to choose to play for Germany.
Marin represented Germany at various youth levels. He played nine times for the U-16 team, 16 times with 5 goals for the U-17 team, and 4 times with 2 goals for the U-18 team. In 2007, he received a call-up to the under-21 national squad and went on to play on nine occasions, participating in six tournaments. He was also selected for the European team in the Meridian Cup. Marin was part of the German U-21 team that won the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
On 16 May 2008, it was announced that Marin would be included in senior squad coach Joachim Löw's provisional 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2008. However, he did not make the final 23-man squad. He made his competitive debut for the senior German national team on 27 May 2008 in a 2-2 draw against Belarus, coming on as a half-time substitute for Bastian Schweinsteiger.
On 20 August of the same year, he made his second appearance for Germany and scored his first goal in a friendly match against Belgium, contributing to a 2-0 victory.
Marin was included in Germany's provisional squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa announced in May 2010. Following a string of impressive performances in warm-up games, he was named in the final 23-man squad on 1 June 2010. He played twice at the World Cup in South Africa, both as a substitute: in Germany's 4-0 win over Australia (replacing Lukas Podolski in the 82nd minute) and in the subsequent 1-0 loss to Serbia (replacing Thomas Müller in the second half). After what were considered disappointing performances, particularly in the game against his native Serbia, Marin was not selected for any more games, as Germany finished third in the tournament. His final caps for the national team came late in 2010.
5. Personal Life
Beyond his football career, Marko Marin has engaged in charitable efforts. In October 2019, while playing for Red Star Belgrade, he auctioned off the right to have dinner with him online. The proceeds from this auction were intended to help raise funds for a Serbian girl suffering from a brain tumor, to cover the costs of her necessary surgery. His childhood idol was Dejan Savićević, and his favorite club was Red Star Belgrade.
6. Honours
6.1. Club Honours
- 2. Bundesliga: 2007-08 (with Borussia Mönchengladbach)
- German Supercup: 2009 (with Werder Bremen)
- DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2009-10 (with Werder Bremen)
- UEFA Europa League: 2012-13 (with Chelsea), 2013-14 (with Sevilla)
- Super League Greece: 2016-17 (with Olympiacos)
- Serbian SuperLiga: 2018-19 (with Red Star Belgrade)
- NB I: 2021-22 (with Ferencváros)
- Magyar Kupa: 2021-22 (with Ferencváros)
6.2. International Honours
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2009 (with Germany U21)
- FIFA World Cup third place: 2010 (with Germany)
6.3. Individual Honours
- Fritz Walter Medal: U17 Silver Medal (2006)
- Fritz Walter Medal: U18 Gold Medal (2007)
- Serbian SuperLiga Player of the Season: 2018-19
- Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2018-19
7. Career Statistics
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach II | 2006-07 | Regionalliga Nord | 16 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 16 | 3 | ||||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2006-07 | Bundesliga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 4 | 0 | |||
| 2007-08 | 2. Bundesliga | 31 | 4 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | 33 | 7 | ||||
| 2008-09 | Bundesliga | 33 | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 35 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 68 | 8 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | 72 | 12 | |||||
| Werder Bremen | 2009-10 | Bundesliga | 32 | 4 | 6 | 1 | - | 12 | 2 | - | 50 | 7 | ||
| 2010-11 | Bundesliga | 34 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | 8 | 1 | - | 44 | 5 | |||
| 2011-12 | Bundesliga | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 22 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 87 | 8 | 9 | 2 | - | 20 | 3 | - | 116 | 13 | ||||
| Chelsea | 2012-13 | Premier League | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| Sevilla (loan) | 2013-14 | La Liga | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 12 | 2 | - | 30 | 2 | ||
| Fiorentina (loan) | 2014-15 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 4 | 2 | - | 4 | 2 | ||
| Anderlecht (loan) | 2014-15 | Belgian Pro League | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | 8 | 0 | |||
| Trabzonspor (loan) | 2015-16 | Süper Lig | 24 | 2 | 5 | 0 | - | - | - | 29 | 2 | |||
| Olympiacos | 2016-17 | Super League Greece | 14 | 4 | 5 | 0 | - | 4 | 0 | - | 23 | 4 | ||
| 2017-18 | Super League Greece | 23 | 7 | 6 | 0 | - | 7 | 1 | - | 36 | 8 | |||
| Total | 37 | 11 | 11 | 0 | - | 11 | 1 | - | 59 | 12 | ||||
| Red Star Belgrade | 2018-19 | Serbian SuperLiga | 22 | 6 | 4 | 0 | - | 5 | 1 | - | 31 | 7 | ||
| 2019-20 | Serbian SuperLiga | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | 14 | 1 | - | 27 | 4 | |||
| Total | 34 | 9 | 5 | 0 | - | 19 | 2 | - | 58 | 11 | ||||
| Al-Ahli Saudi FC | 2019-20 | Saudi Pro League | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 | - | 6 | 1 | - | 17 | 2 | ||
| 2020-21 | Saudi Pro League | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 9 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 17 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | 6 | 1 | - | 26 | 3 | ||||
| Ferencváros | 2021-22 | Nemzeti Bajnokság I | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - | 19 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 313 | 43 | 42 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 75 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 434 | 61 | ||