Salih Özcan has fought for a regular place at BVB since moving from 1. FC Köln to Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund. He has been in the starting line-up in every competitive game for the Black and Yellows since the fourth match day, mostly on the double six alongside youngster Jude Bellingham. The interaction with the BVB superstar makes the newcomer particularly happy, as he revealed in an interview.
The duo Salih Özcan and Jude Bellingham have now found each other in the BVB midfield headquarters. While the English national player takes on the more offensive part and intervenes several times in the course of a game as a box-to-box player in Dortmund’s attacking game, Özcan mainly takes on the defensive tasks.
“He enjoys football so much that you have to call him back to his position,” said the 24-year-old about his Dortmund team-mate Bellingham in the BVB members’ magazine “Borussia”.
“But it’s great fun to play with him and have your back,” emphasized Özcan about the first season together with the 19-year-old, who has risen to the most valuable player in the Bundesliga.
BVB star cost five million euros in the summer
Özcan himself definitely wants to improve in his first season with the Westphalians and work on his weaknesses: “I was able to become a bit more dangerous in goals. That’s certainly not the decisive thing in my position, and of course I’m just as happy about everyone Victory in which I didn’t score a goal. But there’s still something to do,” said the native of Cologne, who is still waiting for his first goal in the black and yellow jersey.
“I also have to and will continue to work on my passing game. In addition, my weak foot could get a little better, even if it will of course never be as good as the strong one,” Özcan continued.
The Turkish national player switched from Effzeh to BVB in the summer for five million euros and has a contract with the Ruhr area club until 2026.