Ozan Kabak

Ozan Muhammed Kabak (born 25 March 2000) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim and the Turkey national team.

Ozan Kabak

Kabak training with VfB Stuttgart in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Ozan Muhammed Kabak[1]
Date of birth	(2000-03-25) 25 March 2000 (age 25)[2]
Place of birth	Ankara, Turkey
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	TSG Hoffenheim
Number	5
Youth career
2011–2017	Galatasaray
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2019	Galatasaray	14	(0)
2019	VfB Stuttgart	15	(3)
2019–2022	Schalke 04	40	(3)
2021	→ Liverpool (loan)	9	(0)
2021–2022	→ Norwich City (loan)	11	(0)
2022–	TSG Hoffenheim	58	(6)
International career‡
2015	Turkey U15	7	(1)
2015–2016	Turkey U16	15	(5)
2016–2017	Turkey U17	15	(3)
2018	Turkey U18	11	(4)
2019–	Turkey	26	(2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 4 June 2024

Club career

Galatasaray

Ozan trained with the Galatasaray youth academy, joining in 2011. He signed his first professional contract with Galatasaray on 1 July 2017.^[3] Ozan made his professional debut for Galatasaray in a 2–0 Süper Lig win over Yeni Malatyaspor on 12 May 2018.^[4] This made him the first footballer born in the 2000s to play in the Süper Lig.^[5] On 24 October 2018, he played his first Champions League match in a 0–0 home draw against Schalke 04 in the 2018–19 season.^[6]

VfB Stuttgart

On 17 January 2019, Kabak moved to Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart where he signed a contract until June 2024.^[7] On 3 March, he scored twice in a 5–1 win over Hannover 96, registering his first senior career goals.^[8] 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.^[9]

Schalke 04

On 30 June 2019, Kabak joined Schalke 04 on a five-year contract for a fee of €15 million, after Schalke activated a release clause in his contract.^[10] He was a regular performer in his first season with the club, appearing in 28 matches and scoring three goals.^[11] In September 2020, he was banned for five games and hit with a €15,000 fine after being caught spitting at Werder Bremen's Ludwig Augustinsson. Kabak apologised to Augustinsson via Twitter afterwards, insisting the incident, for which he was shown a red card, was an accident.^[12]

Liverpool (loan)

On 1 February 2021, Kabak signed for Liverpool 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.^[13][14] On 13 February 2021, he made his Liverpool debut in a Premier League game against Leicester City, ending in a 1–3 away defeat.^[15][16] On 16 February, he played in a 2–0 away win over RB Leipzig in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, becoming the first Turkish player to appear for an English club in the competition.^[17] At the end of the season, Liverpool declined to sign Kabak on a permanent basis.^[18]

Norwich City (loan)

On 30 August 2021, Kabak returned to England to join newly promoted Norwich City on a season-long loan deal with the club having an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season.^[19]

TSG Hoffenheim

On 23 July 2022, Kabak moved to TSG Hoffenheim and signed a contract until 30 June 2026. He also has a clause where it shows he could earn up to 8 million in add ons.^[20]

International career

Ozan is a youth international for Turkey. He captained the Turkey U17s at the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship,^[21] and was listed as one of the 10 players to watch by UEFA.^[22]

On 17 November 2019, Kabak made his debut in the Turkey senior team during the team's UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match against Andorra, playing the full match which Turkey won 2–0.^[23] Kabak scored his first international goal on 16 November 2022 in a 2–1 friendly win over Scotland.^[24]

On 24 May 2024, Kabak was named in the 35-man preliminary squad for the UEFA Euro 2024.^[25] On 5 June, he was withdrawn due to knee injury prior to the tournament.^[26]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 18 May 2024^[27]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Galatasaray	2017–18	Süper Lig	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		1	0
	2018–19	Süper Lig	13	0	0	0	—		4[a]	0	—		17	0
	Total		14	0	0	0	—		4	0	—		18	0
VfB Stuttgart	2018–19	Bundesliga	15	3	—		—		—		2[b]	0	17	3
Schalke 04	2019–20	Bundesliga	26	3	2	0	—		—		—		28	3
	2020–21	Bundesliga	14	0	0	0	—		—		—		14	0
	Total		40	3	2	0	—		—		—		42	3
Liverpool (loan)	2020–21	Premier League	9	0	—		—		4[a]	0	—		13	0
Norwich City (loan)	2021–22	Premier League	11	0	1	0	0	0	—		—		12	0
TSG Hoffenheim	2022–23	Bundesliga	30	2	3	2	—		—		—		33	4
	2023–24	Bundesliga	28	4	2	0	—		—		—		30	4
	Total		58	6	5	2	—		—		—		64	8
Career total			147	12	7	2	0	0	8	0	2	0	165	14

1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
2. Appearances in Bundesliga relegation play-offs

International

As of match played 4 June 2024^[28]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Turkey	2019	1	0
	2020	6	0
	2021	6	0
	2022	7	1
	2023	4	1
	2024	2	0
Total		26	2

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

List of international goals scored by Ozan Kabak

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 November 2022	Diyarbakır Stadium, Diyarbakır, Turkey	Scotland	1–0	2–1	Friendly
2.	12 September 2023	Cegeka Arena, Genk, Belgium	Japan	1–3	2–4

Honours

Galatasaray

• Süper Lig: 2017–18^[29]

Individual

• Bundesliga Rookie of the Season: 2018–19^[30][31][32]