Aston Villa have obvious Yasin Ozcan decision to make this summer
Yasin Ozcan has endured a testing first season as an Aston Villa player.
Signed on a pre-contract agreement worth a reported total of £6.7million including add-ons from Turkish side Kasimpasa in February 2025, Ozcan looked to be an exciting capture for Aston Villa.
The 19-year-old defender was also a reported transfer target for Liverpool when Villa secured his signature, and is one of the most highly-rated young prospects from Turkey at the moment.
However, rather than opting to throw him into the first-team deep end at Villa Park for his debut 2025-26 season, Villa chiefs decided it would be best for him to head out on loan this term.
Yasin Ozcan’s loans haven’t proven fruitful
Initially signing on a season-long loan deal with Belgian giants Anderlecht in this season’s summer window, Ozcan appeared to have bagged himself a solid first temporary move away from the West Midlands.
Anderlecht are a big club in their own right, and it would see the young Turkish international experience another different league and style of football.
However, come late January this year, he was summoned back to Villa Park after making only six total appearances for Anderlecht, culminating in just 132 minutes of league football.
Ozcan was then immediately sent back out on loan to Besiktas, however, which had all the makings of being an even more beneficial move for him.
It would see him return back to his home country and a league that he was very familiar with, having already played three seasons of Turkish top flight football with Kasimpasa before his Villa transfer.
But, he’s so far made only one appearance for Besiktas in the second half of this season, and has been an unused substitute in three Super Lig games.
Ozcan didn’t even make the matchday squad against Basaksehir on 15 February, and so it appears he’s set to play a very limited role for Besiktas between now and the end of the season.
Villa academy football may be better for Ozcan for now
For a young player like Ozcan, sitting on a first-team bench and not playing doesn’t only stump his development and progress, but can also massively dent the confidence of a young player.
There is clearly a lot of expectation and excitement around his future potential, but right now, the best thing for him may well be to spend some time in Villa’s academy system.
Here, Unai Emery and Villa coaches can get a hands-on look at the defender, and better assess just how far along he is in his development as a player, and also from a physical standpoint, as that’s a vital part of being a Premier League defender.
Time is well and truly on everyone’s side here, so spending next season playing Under-21s football could work wonders for his confidence and progression, and would surely do more good than sitting on a first-team bench right now.
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