The third-placed team in the Regionalliga West, Fortuna Köln, has announced its first departure this winter.

It has been quiet around SC Fortuna Köln during the current transfer period. Now the Cologne club have announced their first departure: midfielder Serkan Göcer has terminated his contract with the third-placed team in the Regionalliga West with immediate effect for “personal and professional reasons”.

Göcer came to the southern city of Cologne one and a half years ago from FC Homburg. This season, the 30-year-old only made one brief appearance on matchday six against SV Lippstadt (4:1) due to muscular problems. In the previous year, a knee injury also kept him out for a long time (ten appearances), meaning the six-man never got beyond the role of a substitute during his time at Fortuna.

Göcer was trained in the youth ranks of TuS Koblenz and moved to Rot-Weiß Oberhausen in 2011. He played 14 games for the Kleeblätter in the 3rd division and scored one goal. After two spells in Saarland with 1. FC Saarbrücken and SV Elversberg, the midfielder joined the second team of FC Schalke 04 in 2014.

He played 58 games there in two years in the Regionalliga West (two goals, one assist) before moving to Kickers Offenbach in the summer of 2016. The 30-year-old spent three seasons at Offenbach and made 58 appearances in the Regionalliga Südwest season. Göcer moved from Offenbach to FC Homburg in 2019, for whom he made a further 41 appearances in this league. This was followed by a move to Fortuna Cologne in 2022.

Sporting Director Matthias Mink announced the termination of his contract on the club’s website: “We would like to thank him for his commitment over the last one and a half years at Fortuna. We wish him all the best in his future sporting and professional career. He hasn’t had an easy time here in recent months, but he was always there for the team when he was needed. “