Yusuf Kabadayi is Rijeka's new player: winger arrives from Augsburg on loan with an option to buy
HNK Rijeka officially confirmed the arrival of Yusuf Kabadayi on 9 August 2026, a 22-year-old winger who joins the club at Rujevica from German Bundesliga side Augsburg. According to the announcement by the Rijeka club, Kabadayi will spend the season at Rijeka on loan, with the agreement also including an option to buy his contract. This gives the team another option in the attacking line during a period in which the domestic season and European qualifiers are taking place simultaneously. Kabadayi is primarily used on the left wing, but during his career so far he has also played on the right side and in more central attacking roles. In its official presentation, Rijeka describes him as a player whose standout characteristics are speed, strength and directness when attacking the opposition goal.
The transfer was also confirmed by Augsburg on the same day. The German club announced that Kabadayi is joining the Croatian top-flight side on loan in order to gain more competitive minutes, with sporting director Benni Weber emphasizing that the season in Croatia has already begun and that the player can quickly settle into a competitive rhythm. Augsburg did not disclose the financial details of the agreement, stating that the clubs had decided to keep the details of the transfer confidential. Rijeka, on the other hand, explicitly stated that the loan will run until the end of the season and that there is an option to buy. Kabadayi is under contract with Augsburg until 30 June 2028, so any permanent stay at Rujevica after the loan would require the agreed arrangement between the clubs to be exercised.
A player profile that brings Rijeka speed and width in attack
Kabadayi was born on 2 February 2004 in München, is 1.86 metres tall and holds German and Turkish citizenship. According to information from Augsburg and his earlier presentation at Gaziantep, he is a right-footed attacker whose natural starting position is on the left wing, from where he can attack the space toward the centre of the pitch, although he is not restricted to just one side. When he arrived in 2024, Augsburg described him as a versatile attacking player capable of playing across the entire forward line, emphasizing his dribbling, acceleration and physical strength. In a club profile from the same year, the German top-flight side also highlighted his explosive first step and ability to play on either wing, behind the striker or as a second striker. Such a profile gives Rijeka an additional option to change the structure of its attack without necessarily making a substitution.
For a team that has to respond to different types of opponents throughout the season, that adaptability is particularly important. Kabadayi can stay wide and try to create an advantage in one-on-one situations, but he can also move into central areas, where he gets closer to the penalty area and finishing positions. His height and physical attributes further distinguish him from the typical shorter, highly dribbling winger, although his actual role at Rijeka will depend on the demands of coach Matjaž Kek and the competition within the squad. In its transfer announcement, the club did not specify which position it sees as his primary one, apart from stressing that he is most comfortable on the left side. No plan for his first appearance has been announced either, so only the coming matches will show how quickly he can adapt to Kek's tactical demands.
A decade in Bayern's system and the first serious senior step at Schalke
His football journey began at FC Eintracht München, and in 2012 he moved to Bayern's academy, where he spent practically his entire developmental period from children's categories to senior football. When Schalke brought him in on loan in 2023, the club stated that he had progressed through Bayern's youth ranks, while official data from the German Football Association records his appearances for Bayern's U17 and U19 teams as well as Bayern II. With Bayern's second team, he played in the Regionalliga Bayern, the fourth tier of German football, where he gradually transitioned from junior to senior football. When Augsburg signed him in 2024, the club highlighted that he had scored 13 goals for Bayern II, along with several assists, earning a reputation as an interesting young attacker.
He took an important step in the 2023/24 season, when Bayern sent him on loan to Schalke 04. The club from Gelsenkirchen was competing in the 2. Bundesliga at the time, and the loan gave Kabadayi his first more continuous experience at a high professional level. According to Augsburg's data, he played 24 official matches for Schalke and scored four goals, with 23 of those appearances coming in the league. He particularly stood out in the match against St. Pauli in March 2024, when he scored twice in Schalke's 3:1 victory. In a later profile, Augsburg also recalled that he had previously scored against Paderborn and Hertha BSC after coming off the bench, showing that he can also be dangerous when introduced during a match.
In the summer of 2023, Schalke also had an option to buy as part of the loan agreement, but after the end of the season Kabadayi returned to Bayern. His performances in Gelsenkirchen were nevertheless enough to attract interest from other clubs, and the next step came in July 2024, when Augsburg signed him from Bayern. The German top-flight club gave him a contract until the summer of 2028 and presented him as a young attacker ready to make the transition from the 2. Bundesliga to the highest level of German football. For Kabadayi, it was also a symbolic return to Bavaria, not far from München, where he grew up and took his first footballing steps.
A Bundesliga goal, followed by injury and more playing time in Turkey
His start at Augsburg also brought his first Bundesliga goal. In September 2024, he came off the bench against St. Pauli and scored late in the match to make the final score 3:1, in a game that gave Augsburg their first league victory of that season. According to the club's official data, by September 2025 he had made six competitive appearances for Augsburg, recording one goal and one assist. His first season at the club, however, was seriously slowed by a health problem. In December 2024, Augsburg announced that examinations prompted by knee pain had revealed an injury to the lateral meniscus and that the player had undergone successful surgery and begun rehabilitation, with an absence of several months expected.
After returning and entering the new season, Kabadayi went on loan to Gaziantep FK, a member of the Turkish Süper Lig, in September 2025. Gaziantep announced at the time that it was a loan until the end of the season with an option to buy, while Augsburg confirmed the temporary move so that the player could receive more opportunities to play. Augsburg's current announcement of 9 August 2026 states that Kabadayi played 23 official matches and scored one goal for Gaziantep last season. That goal came just a few days after his arrival, in a 2:0 league victory against Kocaelispor, as Gaziantep also confirmed in its official match report.
His stay in Turkey was his first longer club spell outside Germany and gave him experience of a different football environment. For a young player who spent a large part of his development within Bayern's structured system and then played in the 2. Bundesliga and Bundesliga, a season in the Süper Lig represented another adjustment to a different rhythm, style of opponents and demands. The number of appearances was noticeably higher than what he had previously managed at Augsburg, and continuity of playing time is once again at the centre of his latest loan move. In its most recent announcement, Augsburg clearly stated that Rijeka should provide an environment in which he can continue accumulating competitive minutes.
From Turkey's youth teams to Germany's national teams
Kabadayi's international path also reflects his connection with two countries. As a player of Turkish origin born in Germany, he initially represented Turkey's youth national teams, specifically at U15 and U16 level. Schalke and Augsburg state in their official profiles that in 2021 he then decided to switch to the system of the German Football Association. After that, he played for Germany's U18, U19 and U20 teams. When he arrived in 2024, Augsburg announced that he had accumulated 18 appearances and scored four goals for those three German youth national teams up to that point.
Such a development path means that Kabadayi was exposed to different national-team systems from a young age, while at club level he also progressed through one of Germany's most demanding academies. That alone does not guarantee success in a new environment, but it explains why several clubs viewed him as a player with the potential to reach a higher level. At Rijeka, he will now try to turn that potential into consistent senior-level output, particularly in the areas most easily measured for an attacking player: creating chances, making penetrating runs, providing assists and scoring goals. His career so far shows that he has already had periods in which he was able to influence results, but also periods in which continuity and health limited his number of appearances.
Arrival at a time when Rijeka is already in full competitive rhythm
Kabadayi arrives at Rujevica in the early but very intense phase of the 2026/27 season. According to HNK Rijeka's official results, the team opened its European season with two victories against Derry City, both 1:0 at home and away, and defeated Rudeš 2:1 in the first league round on 2 August. Four days later, Rijeka defeated Finnish side Ilves 1:0 in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, with Niko Janković scoring the goal. The return leg in Tampere is scheduled for 13 August, showing that the new player arrives during a period with little time for a lengthy adaptation and with regular competitive commitments.
Since June, the team has once again been coached by Matjaž Kek, the most successful coach in Rijeka's history, who returned to the bench almost eight years after the end of his first spell. When announcing his return, the club recalled that Kek had previously managed Rijeka in 274 matches and won the first Croatian league title in the club's history, two Croatian Cups and the Super Cup. For Kabadayi, this means joining a team managed by a coach with extensive experience of working under pressure for results and in European qualifying competitions. At the same time, Rijeka has already shown at the start of the season that it uses several attacking solutions, so the new winger will have to earn his place through training and matches.
In practical terms, his greatest value could be increasing competition and the number of different options in attack. Rijeka highlighted precisely that as one of the main reasons for his arrival when announcing the transfer, stating that Kabadayi will further strengthen competition in the offensive part of the squad. In a schedule that may include league and European matches at short intervals, squad depth can become important because of rotation, injuries, suspensions and the need for tactically different player profiles. Kabadayi arrives with experience in the German 2. Bundesliga, Bundesliga and Turkish Süper Lig, but also with a clear developmental goal: to get enough minutes to re-establish continuity at senior level.
For Rijeka, the fact that the loan, according to the club's announcement, includes an option to buy is additionally important. Such a structure allows the club to assess throughout the season how the player fits into the system, how productive he can be and whether he can justify a possible permanent move. The financial terms of the option have not been disclosed, so it is currently not possible to reliably estimate how much a potential transfer might cost or under what additional conditions it could be activated. Augsburg confirmed only the loan and the duration of its own contract with the player until the summer of 2028, while leaving the details of the agreement undisclosed.
Kabadayi's arrival can therefore be viewed both as a short-term reinforcement for a season that has already begun and as a potentially longer-term project if the loan proves successful for all parties involved. Rijeka gets a 22-year-old winger with experience in several different leagues and development in Bayern's academy, Augsburg gives the player room for more playing time, and Kabadayi gets a new opportunity to consistently demonstrate the qualities that brought him into professional football while he was still a teenager. When he will make his first official appearance for the Rijeka club has not yet been announced, so his status in the upcoming matches will depend on registration, physical readiness and the decision of the coaching staff.
Sources:
- HNK Rijeka – official confirmation of Yusuf Kabadayi's arrival, duration of the loan, option to buy and description of the player's profile (link)
- FC Augsburg – confirmation of the loan to Rijeka, contract until 30 June 2028, statistics from Gaziantep and statement by sporting director Benni Weber (link)
- FC Augsburg – information on the transfer from Bayern in 2024, appearances for Schalke and Germany's youth national teams, and versatility in attack (link)
- FC Augsburg – player profile describing his technical and physical characteristics and the positions in which he can play (link)
- FC Schalke 04 – information on the 2023 loan from Bayern, development in München and the beginning of his international career (link)
- FC Augsburg – official information on the lateral meniscus injury and surgery in December 2024 (link)
- Gaziantep FK – official confirmation of the loan in the 2025/26 season and biographical information on Kabadayi (link)
- DFB Datencenter – official data from the German Football Association on Kabadayi's appearances for German clubs and developmental categories (link)
- HNK Rijeka – official results at the start of the 2026/27 season in the league and UEFA Conference League qualifiers (link)
- HNK Rijeka – official announcement of Matjaž Kek's return as head coach and an overview of his previous spell (link)