Schalke (dpa / lnw) – FC Schalke and Can Bozdogan are going their separate ways for the time being. As the Bundesliga soccer club announced on Tuesday, the 21-year-old midfielder will be loaned out to the Dutch first division club FC Utrecht. The agreement between the two clubs provides a purchase option for the professional who is tied to the Revierclub until 2024. The loan business gives the climber more financial leeway. “The change makes sense for both sides: Can has better chances of playing time there and we were able to reduce our squad by one position,” commented Schalke’s sporting director Rouven Schröder.
Bozdogan, who trained at 1. FC Köln, switched to the Schalke U19s in 2019 and made his professional debut almost a year later. In the 2021/2022 season, he was loaned to Besiktas and made 23 Süper Lig and four Champions League appearances for the Turkish club. He played no role in the plans of new Schalke coach Frank Kramer. “There is a lot of competition in our squad in his position, so it would have been difficult for Can to get many minutes of play. We communicated that openly and transparently with him from the start,” said Schröder.