Arminia Bielefeld have announced the signing of Burak Ince The 17-year-old midfielder will come of age in January and will then move to East Westphalia from Turkish second-division club Altinordu FK.
Arminia have been interested in Ince for some time now, and have been known to hold talks with the Turkish junior international at the Altinordu academy, from which Caglar Söyüncü (formerly of Freiburg, now of Leicester City) also emerged. Now it is clear: The midfield talent will move to Arminia in the Bundesliga at the end of January 2022 – after his 18th birthday on 20 January. Ince will receive a contract until 2025 and will wear the shirt number 17 in Bielefeld.
“We are delighted that Burak has decided to take his next step in his development with us despite numerous offers from all over Europe. As a youngster, Burak will be living and playing football outside his home country for the first time. His move in January will allow him to acclimatise and arrive at Arminia in peace,” explained sporting director Samir Arabi on Tuesday. Ince had also attracted the attention of FC Sevilla and Leverkusen in addition to Arminia.
He is the youngest player ever to play in the Turkish second division and score a goal. Arminia head coach Frank Kramer is already looking forward to the addition: “Burak is a very agile and technically skilled player ” Ince himself is “convinced that I will develop further here”.