Arzu Karabulut was born on 30 January 1991 in Cologne to Turkish parents Esef and Kevser, who immigrated to Germany in 1977.[2][3] She has three older brothers.[4]
She became interested in playing football early in her childhood and, at the age of four, joined her three brothers who were in football already.[4] She was supported by her parents, who told her, however, the education must always have priority. At the age of fourteen, she was called up for training in the Turkey women's under 19 national team, as there was no U-17 national team in Turkey at the time;[2]German Football Association coach Bettina Wiegmann had her sights on her as well,[2] but she chose the national team of her parents' native country.[3][4]
After completing her secondary education with a "Fachabitur", she began a two-year trainee program, which will last until 2014, as a tax expert assistant in her brother Irfan's office.[2][3][4]
Arzu Karabulut admits that she is a great fan of Lionel Messi. She said in a newspaper interview that she even straightens her curly hair for her admiration.[2]
Club career
Karabulu entered SC Fortuna Köln at the age of ten, and ran through the youth teams. She played from 2007 to 2010 in the Cologne-based club, competing in the Regionalliga. In the summer of 2010, she transferred to Bayer 04 Leverkusen II, a rival team in the league.[2][3][4][5] She is a regular team member since then.[6]
She made her debut in the Frauen-Bundesliga playing in the first team of her club in the match against FF USV Jena on 27 November 2011.[7]
Arzu Karabulut transferred to Trabzon İdmanocağı after playing nine games and scoring two goals in the 2014–15 season with Konak Belediyespor.[1][10] She scored already seven goals in the first match of the league's 2015–16 season, which ended 19–0 for her new team.[11] She finished the 2015–16 season as "Top scorer" with 23 goals netted in 17 league matches.[12]
Already in the beginning of 2006, she debuted in the Turkey women's U-19 national team. Karabulut went on to appear in 39 international matches until 2010, and netted seven goals for the U-19 national team.[2][27][28][29][30][31]