"A loser who tried again": BVB flop Emre Mor has enough money and is fighting for his reputation

"I almost lost it," said a relieved Dick Schreuder after the final whistle. Emre Mor had pushed the NEC Nijmegen coach to the edge. The Turkish winger, who joined Borussia Dortmund from his birth country Denmark in 2017 for just under €10 million, has driven coaches mad before with indiscipline and sporting carelessness. Probably never in a stranger way than on the night of 11 August.

NEC, surprise third-place finishers in the Eredivisie the previous year, hosted Olympiakos Piraeus in the third round of Champions League qualifying, fittingly one of Mor's former clubs. The first leg had finished 0-0. Then came an early blow at De Goffert, with winger Sami Ouaissa forced off injured after a good half-hour.

Mor was supposed to replace him. Straight away. Instead, a hand-timed two minutes and 49 seconds passed before he stepped onto the pitch. He could not get his earring out.

IMAGO

Emre Mor at NEC Nijmegen: bizarre earring incident before matchwinning goal

Yes, you read that right, Mor stood on the touchline, surrounded by most of the furious Nijmegen bench including Schreuder, while fiddling with the ear of the now 29-year-old. Schreuder had seen enough.

Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund

BVB

9 Oct 202614:30

Werder Bremen

SVW

Eredivisie

Ajax

AJX

10 Oct 202615:00

NEC Nijmegen

NEC

"In the end I wanted to tear it out myself. Last week he was allowed to play with a plaster over it. At this level it is dreadful to play short-handed for so long. That really has to change," he said later. Alex Pastoor, former coach and now TV pundit at Ziggo Sport, said: "I think he thought: just cut his whole ear off!"

By the 30th minute Mor finally came on, with both ears intact but, in line with the rules, without an earring, and he really did decide the tie. Nijmegen went 1-0 down but forced extra time. In the 95th minute Mor made it 2-1, the final score, then celebrated with tears in his eyes. It was his first goal in a competitive match after 542 days. Back then, in February 2025, he was still playing for Turkish top-flight club Eyüpspor.

Getty Images

Emre Mor missed the entire 2025/26 season at Fenerbahce

After the earring incident, Schreuder struck a conciliatory note: "He made up for it a little by scoring the winner." The fact he hauled off the exhausted substitute ten minutes after his goal ties into Mor's murky backstory.

While under contract at Fenerbahce, he missed the entire previous season because the Istanbul club did not register him for competitive matches. Fener did not disclose the reasons for that. Turkish journalists reported a stomach problem.

Small at 1.69 metres and strong in the dribble, Mor has said he wants to speak about his difficult recent period at the right time. After the night against Piraeus, he was mainly enjoying the sort of attention he had known at the start of his career and had not felt for a long time.

IMAGO

"Argentina have the Hand of God, we have Mor's ear"

"That is what you dream of as a footballer, especially in my situation. I haven't had an easy two years," said Mor. "Then to be brought on in such an important game and score the winning goal - I don't think you can put into words how good that feels."

As for the earring, Mor said: "I said to the coach: sorry, I'd never heard that you're not allowed to cover the earring with tape." The 15-cap international added: "I couldn't get it out, so I just pulled it out of my ear. It bled, but everything is fine."

He also explained why he was wearing the earring to play football in the first place: "I don't wear it because I think it looks nice. It's something from Japan or China that's supposed to help with sleeping." Journalist Marcel Rözer summed up the evening in his column for regional newspaper De Gelderlander: "Argentina have the Hand of God, we have Mor's ear."

Getty Images

How did Emre Mor end up at NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands?

So how did Mor, who after leaving Dortmund also played for Celta Vigo, Galatasaray and Fatih Karagümrük, end up in the east of the Netherlands at all? He became available on a free after Fenerbahce chose not to extend his contract. Adviser Nima Modyr then had to generate interest in him, and did so through Carlos Aalbers, NEC's technical director since 2022.

"We've known each other for a very long time," the 62-year-old said of his connection to Modry. "We spoke on the phone and Nima outlined Emre's situation to me. Due to personal circumstances, he had taken a break from football for quite a while." NEC then invited Mor for a trial. "We spoke in detail about Emre. Then we had a video call with him. Dick Schreuder spoke to him while he was on holiday in Marbella. Of course everyone knows Emre, but his career was on a downward trend. We will see whether we can reverse that trend again and whether we can help each other."

Mor trained with the squad and played friendlies on the right wing. In his first 20-minute appearance against amateur club De Treffers, he set up the 1-1 equaliser. Soon after, he was in the starting line-up against Duisburg. That was enough for the club's decision-makers. Mor signed a contract until 2028.

IMAGO

"Exceptional qualities": Emre Mor injured in Nijmegen

"I am very grateful to the club. They want to make me happy again, that was the most important thing," said Mor. "I won't negotiate over money. Money means absolutely nothing to me. Sorry for saying that so directly. I just want to enjoy myself again, and the club are supporting me in that. Everyone is behind me and that feels good." Aalbers also said: "Emre has exceptional qualities. Players of his calibre are normally unattainable for us."

So far, though, Nijmegen have not gained all that much from Mor's talent. Last year's surprise package made a poor start to the new season. In the league they sit only 11th after three defeats in seven games, while their Europa League league phase campaign, after Bodö/Glimt knocked them out in the Champions League play-offs, started with a 5-0 defeat at Juventus.

Those struggles are also tied to the club's major injury problems. Mor has been affected too, missing one game through illness and two more because of after-effects from exertions still unfamiliar to him. "The coach demands a lot from me physically and I haven't played for a whole year, so I have to take it step by step," he said.

Getty Images

Emre Mor often lacked mentality and physical stability

Right now Mor is out with a groin injury and is expected to be sidelined until mid-October. That is especially frustrating because the long international break would have given him the chance to work extensively on his fitness. Now he can do that only to a limited extent.

Back at the start of July, when Mor was on trial, Schreuder said: "For him it's no longer about money, that's no longer an obstacle. Maybe that is exactly what gives him the necessary calm to play with freedom again." Yet plenty of coaches before him had already pinned hopes on that, from Thomas Tuchel in Dortmund to Juan Carlos Unzue in Vigo.

Hardly any of them managed to give Mor, long labelled the "Turkish Messi", the right mentality as well as physical stability. He has qualities that can make him a difference-maker. Too often, though, he lacked the basics of the team game: tactical discipline, persistence, diligence, but also spatial awareness, decision-making and, quite simply, realism.

IMAGO

Emre Mor "just a loser who tried one more time"?

"I hope this goal is the turning point that I will now enjoy," Mor said on that evening of 11 August. He now has seven appearances and 236 minutes played. Instead of another goal, he has added one assist. He has started only once, and not yet in the league.

On Instagram after joining the ninth different professional club of his career, Mor wrote: "A winner is just a loser who tried one more time." Whether this latest attempt really brings the turning point he wants is impossible to say right now. But if the earring incident remains the loudest chapter of his time in Nijmegen, it would certainly fit Mor's colourful CV.

Emre Mor: the performance data of his career