Former Germany international Kerem Demirbay has claimed he wishes he never played for the national team in a bombshell interview.

Demirbay, 33, was born in Germany but qualified to play for Turkey because his parents are both Turkish.

Despite representing Turkey's youth sides, he chose to play for the country of his birth at senior level.

He went on to win two caps for Germany in June 2017 while he played for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.

Demirbay's debut came in a friendly against Denmark before he scored in a Confederations Cup victory over Cameroon. 

However, in an interview with Turkish journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, Demirbay expressed his regret at his international career. 

'My blood is Turkish,' he said. 'My father is Turkish, my mother is Turkish – I am a Turk. 

'I wanted to play for Turkey and we worked on it with the federation for a year-and-a-half. But due to certain things that I cannot talk about, I decided on Germany.'

Demirbay, who has played domestically in Turkey since 2023 for Galatasaray, Eyupspor and now Kasimpasa, claimed that his sole international goal actually proved to be the turning point. 

'I took off my jersey and they saw the Turkey tattoo on my back. After that, they never selected me again.'

The tattoo Demirbay references is an outline of the Turkish border on his right shoulder blade.

On the pitch, the central midfielder faced significant competition at the time, with the likes of Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan and Sami Khedira all battling for gametime in the middle of the park.

Demirbay added: 'I would never play for Germany again, even if they called me now. I am Turkish. 

'I will forever regret never having worn the glorious jersey of the Turkish national team.'

Demirbay's comments are not the first time a German footballer with Turkish roots has caused controversy.

In May 2018, Gundogan and Mesut Ozil were heavily criticised after they met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Both players have Turkish heritage and alongside Cenk Tosun, who was born in Germany but played for Turkey, they posed for a photo, with Gundogan captioning it 'My President'.

Ozil and Gundogan insisted the gesture was out of respect for their family heritage but critics claimed they were being politically exploited and questioned their alleged loyalties to Germany.