Orlando City SC‘s off-season recruitment drive has kicked into another gear after the Lions announced Ercan Kara as their latest signing today.
Signed as a Designated Player, the giant 26-year-old Austrian striker arrives at Exploria Stadium on a three-year deal from Austrian Bundesliga giants Rapid Wien.
NEWS: #OrlandoCity acquires Austrian forward Ercan Kara.#VamosOrlando
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 27, 2022
Our #️⃣9️⃣
Welcome to Orlando, Ercan 💪 #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/zxbMheb364
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 27, 2022
Linked with Orlando City SC only this month, Ercan Kara‘s arrival follows Facundo Torres‘ much publicised transfer on January 24.
Yesterday before Ercan Kara‘s Orlando City SC switch was made official, the Lions teased the Austrian’s impending arrival on Twitter.
Stick around. #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/vOFQJXQeje
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 27, 2022
Speaking after the deal was confirmed, Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations & General Manager, Luiz Muzzi, said: “Acquiring Ercan is a great move for us and we’re really happy to get him to Central Florida.
“We think his versatility up top is going to open a lot of opportunities for us in attack.”
Who is Ercan Kara?
Ercan Kara is a 26-year-old centre forward signed from 2020/21 Austrian Bundesliga runners-up Rapid Wien.
Born in Vienna, Kara is of Turkish descent.
Standing at a giant 6 ft 4 in, Kara has been a prolific goalscorer for Die Grün-Weißen (The Green-Whites).
Boasting a record of scoring nearly one goal every two games, Ercan Kara tallied 27 goals in 58 Austrian Bundesliga appearances for his hometown club.
This prolific form saw Ercan Kara earn his senior international debut with Austria in March 2021.
He came on as a late substitute in a 4-0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification defeat to Denmark.
Unfortunately for Kara, he wasn’t a part of Franco Foda’s 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020 later in 2021.
Earning seven senior international caps for Austria, Ercan Kara‘s nation take on Wales in March as part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup European qualifying playoffs.
Prior to joining Rapid Wien, Ercan Kara was prolific at three of his four former Austrian clubs.
Representing SK Slovan HAC 65 (2012/14), FC Mauerwerk (2016/19), and SV Horn (2019/20), Ercan Kara was a regular goalscorer in Austria’s lower leagues.
Kara also played for the reserve side of Austria Wien, Rapid Wien’s great rivals, between 2014 and 2016.
More recently, Ercan Kara has 2021/22 UEFA Europa League experience too.
The Austrian was part of the Rapid Wien side that finished third in Group H.
Kara appeared in both games against Group H winners West Ham United.
>> CLICK HERE TO VIEW ERCAN KARA’S PLAYER PROFILE <<
NEW SIGNING 🚨 | Ercan Kara joins @OrlandoCitySC. 💜🦁💛
⚽️ ST
🗓 3 January 1996
🇦🇹 Austria
⬆️ 6 ft 4 in
🇦🇹 @skrapid ➡️ @OrlandoCitySC 🇺🇸
👕 Jersey Number 9️⃣VIEW PLAYER PROFILE 📕: https://t.co/d9UBXocY2d#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #VamosOrlando #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/1Un1x9gDWa
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) January 27, 2022
The fans’ view
With #OCTwitter currently reacting to Ercan Kara‘s announcement as an Orlando City SC player, we gathered the best tweets following his arrival.
A quick message from Ercan 🤳 #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/UisRIOuvBA
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 27, 2022
— Alex Leitao (@alexleitao) January 27, 2022
🚨New Video
📽️Scouting Ercan Kara
Gavin and Adam commentate on soon-to-be new Orlando City striker Ercan Kara’s highlights.
YouTube copyright claimed the video. I will add the link when it gets unblocked. For now it will be on the site. #OrlandoCityhttps://t.co/5Z77sizldk
— Lionsblog (@lionsblog1) January 23, 2022
— MDB (@michaeldb_) January 27, 2022
🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹🦁💜
— Alex (@0rlandoCityLion) January 27, 2022
OMG this is so exciting!!!!! pic.twitter.com/DeL69n79mz
— Moraima (@Moraima_4) January 27, 2022
— Alex Reiter (@ghost_reiter) January 27, 2022
Thank you daddy Wilf
— Tyler (@notflyty) January 27, 2022
Kara, who describes himself as a “classic No. 9,” was a terror in the Austrian top flight over the past 24 months. Since the start of the 2020/21 season, only Patson Daka (now of Leicester City) has scored more than Kara’s 24 goals in the Austrian Bundesliga.
— Evan Weston (@EvanLWeston) January 27, 2022
How long until @OrlandoCitySC new signing Ercan Kara learns that his 🇧🇷 teammates aren’t saying his name every 5 seconds? 👀🤣🇧🇷💜
— Gabrielle Amado (@gabamado) January 27, 2022
Ah different pronunciation for his name, more like Erchan 😉 https://t.co/t17M6FQelz
— Moraima (@Moraima_4) January 27, 2022
More exciting news! Welcome! https://t.co/upxfV37xBL
— Kay Rawlins (@Kay_Rawlins) January 27, 2022
What are you thoughts on OC’s transfer window?
We got a #9 in Ercan Kara
Winger Facundo Torres
Midfielder Cesar Araujo
Winger Gastón González seems imminent
Re-signed Rodrigo SchlegelWhat’s your grade?
— Orlando Lions Den Podcast (@OrlandoLionsDen) January 27, 2022
I can’t believe the moves we’re making this off-season!!!
— Brian (@BrianH_321) January 27, 2022
Welcome to Orlando, Ercan!
On behalf of Orlando City UK, we wish Ercan Kara the very best of luck in Central Florida.
You can follow the Austrian forward on his own personal Instagram account too.
It’s also been confirmed that Kara will wear squad number 9 at Orlando City SC, inheriting this number from the departed Chris Mueller.
In addition, Ercan Kara is the first ever Austrian to represent Orlando City SC too.
💜 𝙒𝙀𝙇𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙊 💛
🇦🇹⚽️
𝗞
𝗘 𝗥 𝗖 𝗔 𝗡
𝗥
𝗔9️⃣#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/pJcYFDQKpa
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) January 27, 2022
…
Support Orlando City UK
Passionate about what we do, Orlando City UK content will always be free. The most important thing for us is sharing our love of Orlando City SC with you all and donations are by no means expected. However, if you enjoy our content, a token towards the regular maintenance of Orlando City UK is hugely appreciated!
