Four months after arriving in Portugal, Serdar makes his debut in the A team in sight
The 19-year-old centre-back is scheduled for the match against Paços, and it remains to be seen whether he will play at the start or whether he will be released from the bench.
Four months after arriving in Portugal, Turkish central Serdar Saatçi is preparing to make his debut with Braga’s jersey. The scenario is set for the game with Paços de Ferreira, on Sunday, in the last round of Group D of the League Cup, it remains to be seen whether the player will line up from the start or whether he will be released from the bench. Serdar is the only reinforcement yet to debut.
At the age of 19, the Turkish defender, who played for Besiktas, signed for Braga after the closing of the summer market, in a deal made for 1.5 million euros. The bond is valid until June 2027 and the contract has a release clause worth 40 million euros.
Seen as a bet for the future, Serdar is still in the process of adapting to Portuguese football, which is why it was not an immediate bet, especially since Artur Jorge has given preference to the uses of Tormena, Niakaté and Paulo Oliveira, in that order.
The fact that this is the player’s first experience outside Turkey and that he has difficulties with the Portuguese language meant that the structure of football did not rush the debut of the under-21 international. Now, at a time when Braga is already qualified for the quarter-finals of the League Cup, the game against Paços de Ferreira appears as the ideal scenario to launch the centre-back.
Called up to the main team three times, although he did not leave the bench in the games against Malmo and Union Berlin, in the Europa League, and Trofense, in the League Cup, Serdar was only used in the B team, with 111 minutes divided between the duels with Fafe (he was expelled at 21″) and Sanjoanense, both counting for Liga 3.