Jem Paul Karacan (born 21 February 1989) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Karacan spent the majority of his career with Reading, whilst also playing for AFC Bournemouth, Millwall, Galatasaray, Bursaspor, Bolton Wanderers, Central Coast Mariners, Scunthorpe United and Radcliffe. Internationally He played for the Turkish youth team, and has captained the U-21 side.
Early life
Karacan was born in Catford, London to a Turkish Cypriot father and an English mother. Between the ages of seven and fourteen he played for the now defunct Wimbledon and left after they relocated to Milton Keynes. He had been offered a four-year contract at the club his father supported, Galatasaray, but refused citing language difficulties, "I couldn't go out there at only 14, not speaking the language and so on". Karacan joined Reading's Youth Academy instead, having been spotted playing against the Royals while on trial at Manchester United.
Club career
Reading
On 6 July 2007, he signed a two-year professional contract with Reading, and made his debut against Luton Town on 26 August in the League Cup, getting on the scoresheet.
Loan to AFC Bournemouth and Millwall
Karacan joined AFC Bournemouth on loan, initially for one month, on 18 October 2007. Karacan was put into the starting XI for Bournemouth on 20 October away to Millwall, where he made his league debut in Bournemouth's 2–1 defeat. His loan was subsequently extended to 6 January 2008. Karacan signed a further loan deal in the 2007–08 season on 20 March 2008, this time to Football League One side Millwall, which was originally due to run until 19 April 2008, but was extended to the end of the 2007–08 season.
Return to Reading
He scored against Aston Villa in a pre season match before the 2008–09 season, and scored his first professional goal for Reading in a League Cup win over Luton Town on 26 August 2008. Towards the end of 2008, he began to start a few matches after impressing in the reserves and following injuries to James Harper and Marek Matejovsky. He signed a new 2 and half-year contract in October 2008, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2010–11 season. He scored his first league goal in Reading's 2–2 draw with Blackpool F.C. on 13 April 2009, in the Championship. On 20 August 2011, Karacan made his 100th appearance in all competitions for Reading against Barnsley in a 2–1 defeat. During Reading's 2–0 victory over Leeds United on 6 April, Karacan suffered a broken ankle after a tackle by Michael Brown. He signed a new contract on 19 September 2012 keeping him at the club until June 2015. On 4 May 2013 Karacan scored his first Premier League goal with a low shot into the bottom corner in Reading's 4–2 away win against Fulham.
He began the 2013–14 season in good goalscoring form, netting twice in a 3–3 draw against Watford on 17 August. A month later he again suffered a serious injury in a game against Leeds and had to be substituted after nine minutes. The club later confirmed that he had ruptured both his anterior cruciate and medial ligaments and would be out for six to nine months. After more than a year out, he entered the final part of his recovery in October 2014.
For the 2014–15 season, Karacan was made captain by Nigel Adkins and changed his squad number to 21, due to his admiration for Italian maestro Andrea Pirlo. He made a brief return from his injury nightmare on 10 January 2015, coming on as a late substitute against Middlesbrough,. He scored a consolation goal from 20 yards on 14 March, after replacing Jake Taylor as a second-half substitute in a 4–1 defeat at Vicarage Road, in his second appearance of the season.
He went on to play in each of the remaining games and made his final appearance in a Reading FC shirt in a 3–0 away victory against Derby County.
Galatasaray
On 8 July 2015, Karacan joined Galatasaray on a three-year contract following the expiration of his Reading contract at the end of the 2014–15 season.
Karacan made his debut for the club in a 1–0 victory against Bursaspor in the Super Cup final, replacing Lukas Podolski in the final 10 minutes of the game.
He made his Süper Lig debut against Gaziantepspor after replacing Yasin Öztekin, and Galatasaray won that match 2–1. Karacan played 90 minutes against Eskişehirspor where his team won 4–0, showing himself as a central midfielder both offensively and defensively.
Karacan made his Campions League debut on 25 November 2015 completing 90 minutes away to Atlético Madrid in a 2–0 defeat.