After more than a decade, Ahmed Kutucu turned his back on FC Schalke 04 last year – a drastic step for the 22-year-old loan player from SV Sandhausen, as he admits before the duel with his old love in the 2nd Bundesliga.
“Of course it was difficult for me to leave my home club after eleven years. But in football you sometimes have to make decisions like that,” said Kutucu in an interview with “WAZ”.
Born in Gelsenkirchen, he switched from the offspring of Rot-Weiss Essen to the Knappen in 2011. In January 2021, due to a lack of sporting prospects, he was drawn first to Heracles Almelo in the Netherlands, and then to the Turkish club Basaksehir Istanbul in the summer. Kutucu has been on loan for Sandhausen since the beginning of the year.
Ahmed Kutucu’s expectations ‘not fully met’
“I wanted more match practice and had good discussions with coach Alois Schwartz and sporting director Mikayil Kabaca. I was also convinced that it would be good for me to play in Germany again,” the attacker explained about the move to Schalke’s league rivals .
Before the home game against the Royal Blues, the SVS is floating as table 14. only mathematically in danger of relegation. Thanks to a strong second half of the league, the league is as good as perfect.
Things aren’t going so well for Kutucu personally, though. The winter newcomer is only a substitute. He only scored one goal for Sandhausen. “My expectations weren’t fully met, but I’m happy to be part of this team. I try to help the team as best I can when I play and I do my best to help,” said the ex-Schalke player.
He will initially return to Basaksehir in the summer, Kutucu said. “You can never say what will happen in the future, football is too fast-paced for that.”
Duel with FC Schalke 04 “a special situation”
The duel with the S04 was “a special situation” for him, Kutucu admitted. “But we still need points and that’s why I have to block out everything else on Friday.”
However, he would not celebrate if he scored a goal against the promotion aspirant “out of respect for the club and the fans”, announced the German-Turk.