Ozan Muhammed Kabak (born 25 March 2000) is a Turkish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club 1899 Hoffenheim and the Turkey national team.

Club career

Galatasaray

Ozan trained with the

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

youth academy, joining in 2011. He signed his first professional contract with Galatasaray on 1 July 2017. Ozan made his professional debut for Galatasaray in a 2–0

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

win over

Yeni Malatyaspor Yeni Malatyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Malatya, Turkey. The club plays in the TFF First League, which is the second tier of football in the country. History Founded in 1986 as Malatya Belediyespor. Its prima ...

on 12 May 2018. This made him the first footballer born in the 2000s to play in the Süper Lig. On 24 October 2018, he played his first Champions League match in a 0–0 home draw against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

in the 2018–19 season.

VfB Stuttgart

On 17 January 2019, Kabak moved to

side

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

where he signed a contract until June 2024. On 3 March, he scored twice in a 5–1 win over

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

, registering his first senior career goals. In doing so, at the age of 18 years, 11 months and 7 days, he became the youngest Turkish center-back, and third-youngest Stuttgart player to ever score twice in a single Bundesliga match.

Schalke 04

On 30 June 2019, Kabak joined

on a five-year contract for a fee of €15 million, after Schalke activated a

release clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...

in his contract. He was a regular performer in his first season with the club, appearing in 28 matches and scoring three goals. In September 2020, he was banned for five games and hit with a €15,000 fine after being caught spitting at

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

’s

Ludwig Augustinsson Hans Carl Ludwig Augustinsson (born 21 April 1994) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Mallorca, on loan from La Liga club Sevilla, and the Sweden national team. A product of Brommapojkarna's academy ...

. Kabak apologised to Augustinsson via Twitter afterwards, insisting the incident, for which he was shown a red card, was an accident.

Liverpool (loan)

On 1 February 2021, Kabak signed for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. The deal was reportedly worth £1 million, plus potentially £500,000 in add-ons depending on appearances and Liverpool's performance in the Champions League. It also included an option to buy, which was set at approximately £18 million and could rise to £26.5m with add-ons. On 13 February 2021, he made his Liverpool debut in a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

game against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, ending in a 1–3 away defeat. On 16 February, he played in a 2–0 away win over

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig, and colloquially referred to as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red Bu ...

in the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defeat ...

, becoming the first Turkish player to appear for an English club in the competition. At the end of the season, Liverpool declined to sign Kabak on a permanent basis.

Norwich City (loan)

On 30 August 2021, Kabak returned to England to join newly promoted

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

on a season-long loan deal with the club having an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season.

1899 Hoffenheim

On 23 July 2022, Kabak moved to 1899 Hoffenheim and signed a contract until 30 June 2026.

International career

Ozan is a youth international for Turkey. He captained the Turkey U17s at the

2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2017) was the 16th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (35th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth football champi ...

, and was listed as one of the 10 players to watch by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

. On 17 November 2019, Kabak made his debut in the Turkey senior team during the team's

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europe ...

match against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

, playing the full match which Turkey won 2–0. Kabak scored his first international goal on 16 November 2022 in a 2-1 friendly win over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kabak goal.''

Honours

Club

;Galatasaray *

: 2017–18

Individual

Rookie of the Season: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * *
1899 Hoffenheim profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabak, Ozan 2000 births Living people Footballers from Ankara Turkish footballers Turkey youth international footballers Turkey international footballers Association football defenders Galatasaray S.K. footballers VfB Stuttgart players FC Schalke 04 players Liverpool F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Süper Lig players Bundesliga players Premier League players UEFA Euro 2020 players Mediterranean Games competitors for Turkey Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Turkish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England