Our New Number 9 - Ercan Kara

The formalities have been finalised and it can now be officially announced that Ercan Kara has joined SK Rapid from Turkish side Samsunspor with immediate effect. The 29-year-old Vienna-native was already on loan at Hütteldorf from the Süper Lig club during the spring, and provided two absolute highlights with his crucial late goal in the last Vienna Derby, and a last-gasp winner in the decisive 3-0 (4-3) victory against LASK which took us into the UEFA Conference League qualifiers.

The seven-time ÖFB international was already an important part of the Green & White senior team from January 2020 to January 2022, scoring an impressive 37 goals in 84 competitive matches. Kara has now played a total of 104 competitive matches for Rapid, in which he has scored 39 goals and assisted a further 16. Now, after spells at MLS side Orlando City (53 games/18 goals) and in the Turkish Süper Lig with Samsunspor (34/5), Kara is returning to his home-town club. SK Rapid and Kara's previous employers were able to agree on the transfer terms, and the 192cm centre-forward has signed a contract for the next two seasons at the Allianz Stadium, meaning that he’ll start training under his new head coach Peter Stöger with immediate effect!

Statements on the arrival of our new number 9:

Managing Director of Sport Markus Katzer: "Although Ercan was not yet able to show his full potential in the spring, he has proven that he can be a reinforcement for us. His important headers were a perfect example of his commitment, his fighting spirit and his belief in winning games. He is a model athlete who knows exactly what it means to play for a club like SK Rapid. I am therefore delighted that we were able to reach an agreement with his previous club," said the 45-year-old Viennese.

Ercan Kara himself said: "I will never forget the last game on June the 1st in particular and will always carry it in my heart. I already knew beforehand that I wanted to continue playing for this great club, but after the great emotions that I was able to experience together with my team-mates and the fans after the 3-0 win against LASK, I wanted nothing more than to return to Rapid for good. I owe a lot to the club and will continue to give my all for the Green & White in the future, because this club is simply close to my heart. I can hardly wait to play in front of our fans again and hope that we'll have plenty of reasons to celebrate goals together in the future."

Ercan Kara will hunt for goals in the new season with the classic centre-forward squad number 9, which he already wore during his MLS stint. Just like Andrija Radulović, who was also signed a few days ago, Ercan will also take part in the upcoming summer training camp in Freistadt, Upper Austria.