In the 2006–07 campaign, Ersen represented Trabzonspor, finishing the season as the league's eighth best-scorer and helping his team finish fourth, good enough for qualification to the UEFA Cup. Subsequently, he had everything arranged with La Liga club Recreativo de Huelva in August 2007, but the deal eventually collapsed and he stayed at Trabzonspor; in October, FIFA stepped in and declared Ersen a player of the Spanish side– he had dual citizenship, but that status changed with 2007 changes in German laws and so, he eventually played his first season for the Andalusians as a foreign player.