Yann Sommer

Yann Sommer (born 17 December 1988) is a Swiss footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
He completed his apprenticeship at Basel, where he won the Swiss Super League on four consecutive occasions before a transfer to Mönchengladbach in 2014.
Sommer made his debut for the Swiss national football team in 2012. He represented the nation at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016.

FC Basel

Born in Morges, Vaud, Sommer played as a child in the youth teams of his local side FC Herrliberg and later of Concordia Basel. He moved to the Basel youth in 2003. He signed his first professional contract with Basel in 2005. He became the first choice goalkeeper in the Under-21 squad almost immediately, fending off opposition like Jayson Leutwiler and Orkan Avci, and was third choice for the senior squad behind Franco Costanzo and Louis Crayton.

During the summer of 2007, he signed a new contract, dated until 2011, and was loaned out to Liechtensteiner club Vaduz to gain first-team experience in an environment somewhat more competitive than the reserves in the Swiss 1. Liga. He was made the first-choice goalkeeper and played 33 matches over the course of the 2007–08 Swiss Challenge League season, playing a major part in Vaduz's promotion to the Swiss Super League. His loan deal was extended, lasting until January 2009. He made his Super League debut for Vaduz on 20 July 2008 in the 2–1 away win against Luzern. Sommer was recalled to Basel on 7 January 2009 because their first choice goalie, Costanzo, was injured.

He made his Super League debut for Basel in a 3–2 defeat to BSC Young Boys at the Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf on 7 February 2009. He played six games for Basel up until the end of the season. On 16 June, he joined Grasshopper on a one season-long loan. During his season there he played 33 league matches.

On 14 June 2010, Sommer signed a five-year contract with Basel. He served as second-choice goalkeeper behind Franco Costanzo. In March 2011, Basel announced that they would not prolong the contract with Costanzo and therefore Sommer was to become the team's first-choice goalkeeper. Sommer played five Super League games during the 2010–11 season and so was part of the championship-winning team.

Sommer made his UEFA Champions League debut on 14 September 2011 in the 2–1 home win against Oțelul Galați. He was first-choice goalkeeper in the 2011–12 season; at the end of it he won the double, of league and Swiss Cup.

At the end of the 2012–13 season Sommer won the league title for the third consecutive time, having played in all 36 league matches; the team were cup runners-up. In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Basel advanced to the semi-finals, there being matched against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, but they were beaten 2–5 on aggregate.

At the end of the 2013–14 season, Sommer won the league championship with Basel. They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time. In the 2013–14 Champions League season, Basel finished the group stage in third position to qualify for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals. In their season 2013–14 Basel played a total of 68 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 6 Champions League and 10 Europa League and 10 test matches). Sommer totaled 58 appearances, 35 League, 2 Cup, 10 Champions League and 6 Europa League as well 5 in the test games.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 10 March 2014, Sommer signed a five-year deal with Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach, effective from 1 July. He was signed to replace the outgoing Marc-André ter Stegen, who had joined FC Barcelona. In Sommer's first season at Mönchengladbach, the 2014-15 season, Gladbach managed a 3rd-place finish, the highest that the club had achieved since 1978. The club also managed to better its record of consecutive games without defeat, exceeding the record of 17 games which was set in the 1970-1971 season.

Sommer's debut came against FC 08 Homburg in the DFB-Pokal, where Gladbach won 3-1. Sommer played against VfB Stuttgart on the opening day in a 1-1 draw. He was famously lobbed from long range by teammate Christoph Kramer against Borussia Dortmund in a 1-0 defeat, but Gladbach went on to secure qualification for the UEFA Champions League with one game remaining. At the season's conclusion, Sommer was named Gladbach's player of the season.

The 2015–16 season began terribly. Gladbach lost their opening game 4-0 to Borussia Dortmund, Sommer being blamed for the first goal. The club was reported to be in huge trouble, and before their first Champions League game, the club's players held crisis talks to discuss their problems. After losing 3-0 to Sevilla, Sommer also came in for heavy criticism. After a fifth consecutive Bundesliga defeat, against rivals 1. FC Köln, coach Lucien Favre resigned. In contrast to the previous year, it was the worst start to a season that Gladbach had ever suffered. Under new interim boss André Schubert, form dramatically improved with four wins from four, resulting in Schubert taking the job permanently. Sommer was forced to sit out against VfL Wolfsburg due to a broken nose, having injured it against Manchester City in the Champions League. He was replaced for the Wolfsburg match by Tobias Sippel. Sommer eventually played in all of the remaining Bundesliga games, with his performances leading to interest from Manchester City.

Sommer has represented Switzerland at various age levels including Under-16s, Under-17s, Under-19s and Under-21s. He made his Swiss U-16s debut on 26 August 2003, but the match ended in a 0–5 defeat against the Germany U-16s. His U-17s debut was on 20 November 2003 in the 1–1 draw against England U-17s.

Sommer made his debut for the Swiss Under-21s on 22 August 2007, as he was substituted in at half time during the 2–1 away win against the Belgium Under-21 team. He was goalkeeper and captain of the Swiss U-21 team that competed in the final tournament of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, hosted by Denmark between 11 and 25 June 2011. The Swiss team reached the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final on 25 June 2011 without conceding a goal, but then lost to Spain U-21 2–0. This was Sommer's last game for the Under-21s.

Sommer made his debut for the senior side on 30 May 2012 in the Swissporarena, in Lucerne, in a 0–1 defeat against Romania in a friendly match. On 13 May, he was named in the 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Alongside Bundesliga colleagues Roman Bürki and Marwin Hitz, Sommer was one of three goalkeepers included in Switzerland's Euro 2016 squad, and was the first choice keeper, playing all four games. Sommer was unable to prevent Switzerland being eliminated by Poland in the round of 16, losing 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Club

Vaduz

• Swiss Challenge League: 2007–08
• Liechtenstein Football Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09

Basel

• Swiss Super League: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
• Swiss Cup: 2011–12

International

• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Runner-up: 2011

Individual

• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2011