Roman Bürki (born 14 November 1990) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club St. Louis City SC. From 2014 to 2018, he played for the Switzerland national team.
Bürki began his career in 2007 with the reserve squad of the BSC Young Boys. In 2009, he moved to FC Thun, and half a year later to FC Schaffhausen. In the summer of 2010 he went back to BSC Young Boys, and again half a year later he was transferred to Grasshopper Club Zürich. First, he was the back-up goalkeeper, later the first goalkeeper. He was on loan until 2013, when Grasshoppers bought his rights.
On 24 May 2014, he signed a contract with SC Freiburg.
For 2014âÂÂ15 Bundesliga season he succeeded Oliver Baumann as number one goalkeeper. He played in all 34 games, while being unable to prevent the team from being relegated to 2. Bundesliga.
On 14 June 2015, he signed for Borussia Dortmund. He made his formal debut for the team on 15 August 2015, in a 4âÂÂ0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. He kept 12 clean sheets for Dortmund in the league, making 33 appearances. In the 2016âÂÂ17 season, he made 27 league appearances, keeping nine clean sheets.
In the 2017âÂÂ18 season, Bürki became the first goalkeeper to keep five clean sheets in the first five Bundesliga games.
On 16 March 2022, Bürki agreed to a deal that would send him to Major League Soccer expansion franchise St. Louis City SC for their inaugural season in 2023. He is the highest-paid goalkeeper in the league and would earn a $1.5 million base salary. Bürki played four matches for reserve squad St. Louis City 2 in 2022 along with several other future St. Louis players.
On 20 February 2023, Bürki was named the club's captain.
In November of 2023, Bürki was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year
Bürki played for Switzerland U-21 in the 2011 European Under-21 Championship.
In 2014, Bürki was first called up for Switzerland and was also in the squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. On 18 November 2014, he made his debut in a friendly match against Poland. He was part of the squad for the 2016 European Championships, but never made it to any match. Ultimately, his team was eliminated in the round of 16 away after losing 5âÂÂ4 on penalties against Poland.
He was included in Switzerland's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup.
In 2018, Burki stated that he did not want to be called up to the Switzerland squad in order to focus on the 2018âÂÂ19 season at Dortmund.
Bürki is the older brother of FC Thun defender Marco Bürki.
Grasshoppers
Borussia Dortmund
St. Louis City SC
Individual