Yasin Ozcan destined for Aston Villa return as damning update emerges at Anderlecht
Aston Villa fans have been kept in the dark about the progress of Yasin Ozcan at Anderlecht.
Villa swooped to land Ozcan from Kasimpasa in 2024, but he never made the move to Villa Park until last summer.
The deal wasn’t confirmed until July when Villa announced an agreement for Ozcan ahead of the current campaign in claret and blue.
There were high expectations for the 19-year-old in B6, but Villa opted to loan Ozcan to Anderlecht rather than utilising his services.
Those high hopes for Ozcan have fallen away as the season has gone on, with Villa News now looking into his temporary stint in the Belgian Pro League.
Anderlecht insider provides Yasin Ozcan insight
There were concerns that Unai Emery and Villa could regret letting Ozcan remain at Kasimpasa, with the feeling he could have made a positive first-team impact in the Midlands.
The Villans went on to reach the Champions League quarter-final, so those fears certainly weren’t realised.
That didn’t stop the hope of the teenager featuring in the Premier League this season, before he was ultimately loaned out to Belgium.
Things haven’t worked out for Ozcan in the purple and white outfit, with yet another Villa youngster facing a lack of minutes while away from B6.
I spoke to Peter from Purple Anderlecht, a social media fan page, who has revealed that the Belgian giants are highly unlikely to activate their buy-option to sign the Turkish defender this summer.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, he said: “Unfortunately, no one understands why he gets so little playing time.
“We have one decent centre-back and one very poor one (Lucas Hey), and yet our coach still doesn’t give him any playing time.
“Now he was forced to come on as a substitute against Gent, and he didn’t make a bad impression. He wasn’t afraid and immediately got involved in the game.
“The buy option will not be activated as it is far too expensive for us.
“Because he has had so little playing time, it is difficult to really judge him. I don’t understand why Ozcan is barely allowed to play.
“In those first few minutes last weekend, he certainly seemed to have the talent to be a starter.
“Maybe it’s because he´s here on loan and we won´t be able to trigger the option. So they prefer the players who are here permanently, that´s the only explanation I could think of.“
How has Ozcan performed away from Aston Villa?
There is so little data about the versatile defender at Anderlecht due to his lack of minutes under head coach Besnik Hasi.
Ozcan has made just three appearances in the Belgian Pro League, with all of those coming off the bench in various fixtures across December and January.
The youngster has featured more in the Conference League and in cup competitions, but that only takes his tally up to five first-team showings.
He was given 45 minutes worth of action in Anderlecht’s last outing as they fell to a 4-2 defeat away to Gent on Sunday.
| Stat vs Gent | Yasin Ozcan |
| Minutes played | 45 |
| Pass accuracy (%) | 91 |
| Clearances | 5 |
| Headed clearances | 2 |
Ozcan’s stats point towards a useful asset for a teenage defender, even if his game time has been extremely limited away from Villa Park.
Welcoming him back to B6 in the summer could well make way for another loan exit, but the Villans have to get it right as soon as possible.
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