| Ozan Kabak | |
| Full Name: | Ozan Muhammed Kabak[1] |
| Birth Date: | 25 March 2000[2] |
| Birth Place: | Ankara, Turkey |
| Height: | 1.87m (06.14feet) |
| Position: | Centre-back |
| Currentclub: | TSG Hoffenheim |
| Clubnumber: | 5 |
| Youthyears1: | 2011–2017 |
| Youthclubs1: | Galatasaray |
| Years1: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs1: | Galatasaray |
| Caps1: | 14 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2019 |
| Clubs2: | VfB Stuttgart |
| Caps2: | 15 |
| Goals2: | 3 |
| Years3: | 2019–2022 |
| Clubs3: | Schalke 04 |
| Caps3: | 40 |
| Goals3: | 3 |
| Years4: | 2021 |
| Clubs4: | → Liverpool (loan) |
| Caps4: | 9 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs5: | → Norwich City (loan) |
| Caps5: | 11 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2022– |
| Clubs6: | TSG Hoffenheim |
| Caps6: | 58 |
| Goals6: | 6 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2015 |
| Nationalteam1: | Turkey U15 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 1 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2015–2016 |
| Nationalteam2: | Turkey U16 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 15 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 5 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2016–2017 |
| Nationalteam3: | Turkey U17 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 15 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 3 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2018 |
| Nationalteam4: | Turkey U18 |
| Nationalcaps4: | 11 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 4 |
| Nationalyears5: | 2019– |
| Nationalteam5: | Turkey |
| Nationalcaps5: | 26 |
| Nationalgoals5: | 2 |
| Pcupdate: | 18 May 2024 |
| Ntupdate: | 4 June 2024 |
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 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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
| 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 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |||||
| VfB Stuttgart | 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 15 | 3 | — | — | — | 2 | 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 | 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 | |||
| 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.
| 1. | 16 November 2022 | Diyarbakır Stadium, Diyarbakır, Turkey | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly | |
| 2. | 12 September 2023 | Cegeka Arena, Genk, Belgium | 1–3 | 2–4 |
Galatasaray
Individual