Announced – Aston Villa confirm surprise signing of rising defensive star
Aston Villa have confirmed a surprise new signing a week after the end of the January transfer window.
The January transfer window may have been closed for a week, but Aston Villa hadn’t finished doing business – and have now announced the signing of a talented young defender who will join Unai Emery’s squad in the summer.
Villa announced on Monday that 18-year-old Yasin Ozcan, who can play as a centre-back or on the left, had joined the club on a “pre-contract agreement” from Turkish Super Lig side Kasimpasa. Ozcan will remain with his current club for the rest of the season, before linking up with the Villans ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Reports in January had suggested that a deal with Ozcan was imminent, but with weeks having passed since that point the announcement comes as a surprise. The Athletic claimed last month that Villa would pay €7m (£5.8m) with an additional €1m (£830,000) in add-ons included in the deal but Villa’s announcement does not include any financial details related to the transfer. The Athletic further claimed that Ozcan would sign a five-year deal with the Midlands club, which would keep him at Villa Park until 2030, which is also not yet confirmed.
Who is new Aston Villa signing Yasin Ozcan?
Ozcan, who turns 19 in April, has been with Super Lig side Kasimpasa since 2018 and made his senior debut in 2022 at the age of just 16, quick establishing himself as a first-team regular in the Turkish top flight.
He has now made a total of 78 senior appearances and been capped 12 times at Under-21 level by his country. Noted for his intelligent reading of the game and quick turn of speed, the 6’1” defender operates as either a ball-playing centre-back or a more conservative full-back on the left flank.
His potential led him to be named in The Guardian’s NextGen 2023, a list of the most promising players born worldwide in 2006. Their report card noted that he started his career as a winger before being converted to play as a defender, and that he idolises Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos.
Fresh reinforcements coming for depleted defence
Ozcan will add depth to an Aston Villa defence which has been depleted by both the departure of experienced centre-back Diego Carlos, who moved to Fenerbahce in January, and recent injuries to Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings.
While the injuries should no longer be a concern by the time the young Turk arrives in Birmingham, those fitness issues did expose a lack of depth in Villa’s defence, an issue which spurred the club to make the deadline-day loan signing of Axel Disasi.
With Disasi set to return to Chelsea in the summer, Villa will be on the lookout for permanent answers at centre-back, but the addition of Ozcan could go some way towards ensuring that Emery has options if injury issues strike again.
In other news, Emery has praised the development of young midfielders Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers following the Villans’ FA Cup fourth round victory over Ange Postecoglou’s struggling Tottenham Hotspur side.