“Brothers united!”
©Sivasspor
What has been speculated about Energie Cottbus for a long time, but was generally viewed as unrealistic, has now worked out: the third division club confirmed the commitment of 70-time Bundesliga professional Tolga Ciğerci on Tuesday morning. Several media outlets had previously reported that the 33-year-old would sign by the end of the season. Ciğerci has been without a club since leaving Sivasspor last summer, but has recently been keeping fit in Lausitz. There he is now playing professionally for the first time together with his brother Tolcay Cigerci.
“Brothers united!” was the subject of the Cottbus press release. An agreement was considered difficult, particularly when it came to salary expectations, and Ciğerci had reportedly not ruled out a return to Turkey until recently. The transfer window there is still open until Friday, so there could have been one or two movements on the market over the course of the week. Ultimately, the veteran decided to sign with Energie and accepts a corresponding salary loss.
“Tolga is a player who brings experience and charisma on a completely different level. We were able to see that every day during the time he trained with us here. We talked about it a lot, weighed it up and ultimately decided together that we wanted to take this step. We certainly don’t need to talk about Tolga’s CV. That says it all. The fact that both brothers will now play together with us in Cottbus is not a given, but also shows that our work is highly valued “experiences,” said head coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz.
When asked about a possible Ciğerci transfer in mid-January, he was quiet and less optimistic. “He has an extraordinary CV, but a player of his size would shake the club. As a club, you should ask yourself whether you should really use this shelf and whether it makes sense for the development of the club. That would be much more likely to backfire than forward. However, I don’t want to rule anything out,” Wollitz said at the time.
Ciğerci is now becoming a sought-after and much-quoted “game changer” in Lausitz and should use his experience to help increase the current league leaders’ chances of a return to the 2nd Bundesliga. Cottbus gave up four players in the winter transfer window, defensive youngster Gianluca Pelzer came from Hoffenheim but was loaned directly to VfB Lübeck.
Squad planner Maniyel Nergiz added about Ciğerci’s commitment: “We would like Tolga to give our team an additional impulse that will make us more stable and even more confident in our appearance. We are glad that everyone involved has taken on this matter, come together and thus united the brothers.
This article was first published at 7:03 a.m. and was updated following official confirmation of the transfer.
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