Confirmed: Özcan switches allegiance to Turkey
On Friday, FC Köln midfielder Salih Özcan joined VfB Stuttgart defender Atakan Karazor as the second German Bundesliga starter to commit to play for the Turkish national team this week.
Though former Germany U21 trainer Stefan Kuntz's Turkish national team failed in their bid to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar last night, the German head-coach's efforts to restock his team with German players of Turkish descent continues. Last week, Kuntz convinced Essen native Atakan Karazor to suit up for the crescent stars.
A much more significant coup was secured on Friday afternoon. Köln native Salih Özcan--a member of Kuntz's 2021 UEFA U21 European Championship winning squad--will play for the country of his parents in the future. The 24-year-old leaves German football's youth ranks following an illustrious career that saw him capped 54 times at various youth levels. He made 15 appearances for Kuntz's U21 side.
Speculation that the highly valued prospect would switch to Turkey had been simmering for some time. A fine recent run of form saw the versatile midfielder's market value pushed up to €7 million. It has been confirmed that German national team trainer Hansi Flick called Özcan personally to get the issue of his allegiance settled.
"Flick spoke to me of some appealing prospects," Özcan noted when discussing his decision on social media, "but I held many talks with my family and this decision was made out of conviction. I want to play for Turkey!"
Salih Özcan ist für das bevorstehende Freundschaftsspiel der türkischen A-Nationalmannschaft gegen Italien nominiert. 🇹🇷 Er sitzt bereits im Flieger und ist auf dem Weg zum Team von Trainer Stefan Kuntz. 👉 https://t.co/oppyCAS5WG
— 1. FC Köln (@fckoeln) March 25, 2022
Glückwunsch und viel Erfolg, Salih! 💪 #effzeh pic.twitter.com/pvqbWAKDsm