Emre Can was born on 12 January 1994 in Frankfurt, Germany, to parents of Turkish descent. He came through local Frankfurt clubs before joining Bayern Munich's academy at 15. He won the Bundesliga and Champions League with Bayern's reserves but made only seven senior appearances before seeking regular minutes elsewhere.
After a 2013-14 season at Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool signed him for around £9.75 million, where over four seasons he made more than 150 appearances under Jürgen Klopp and won the 2016-17 BBC Goal of the Season for an overhead kick against Watford. In 2018 he joined Juventus and won two Serie A titles before joining Borussia Dortmund on loan in early 2020 with an obligation to buy that triggered in February 2020 for around €25 million.
For Germany he has earned around 50 caps since 2015, played at Euro 2016 and Euro 2020, won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, and was called up to Euro 2024 as a replacement for the injured Aleksandar Pavlović — scoring in Germany's opening match.
In March 2026 he extended his Dortmund contract through 2027.
A 1.86 m two-footed central midfielder who can also play centre-back, Can is the captain of Borussia Dortmund and the kind of physically dominant, leadership-driven player both club and country have leaned on for tournament football.