Official: Özkacar joins Köln on loan

1. FC Köln bolstered their defensive department with the signing of a center-back.

Cenk Özkacar joins 1. FC Köln on an initial loan deal from Valencia CF. The Turkish defender spent the previous season on loan at Real Valladolid, where he couldn’t save the club from a bottom-placed finish.

Sky report that there is an option to buy for only €2 million at the end of the season. The 24-year-old has featured in 51 LaLiga games since leaving Olympique Lyonnais in 2022 after only making one appearance for the club. He will wear the number 39 for Köln.

“With Cenk, we are signing the left-footed centre-back that we had planned to bring in, who will increase the competition for places as well as the level in that position,” said the sporting director Thomas Kessler.

“Even though the past season didn’t go as planned, we are convinced of his potential and his ability to develop. He will do our team good. We’re very pleased that Cenk (Özkacar) decided to join us”.

“In the discussions with Thomas (Kessler), I got a really good feeling for the history of the club and the meaning it has for the people here,” said Özkacar. “I knew immediately that it is the right step for me to move to Germany and the Bundesliga. I am looking forward to the stadium and the fans, who are known for their passion and support well outside of city boundaries”.