Slovan HAC Kara came through the
Slovan HAC youth system. On 13 November 2011, he made his senior debut for Slovan's first team as a 15-year-old in the fourth-tier
Wiener Stadtliga as a 60th-minute substitute for Burak Özbek in a 5–1 defeat at home to Nußdorfer AC. In his debut season, Kara made ten league appearances and a further appearance in the local
Wiener Cup, but did not score. On 25 May 2013, Kara scored his first senior goal for Slovan, in a 3–2 Wiener Stadtliga defeat against
Post SV Wien. It was his only goal of the season in 29 appearances. Slovan took voluntary relegation to the sixth tier Wiener Oberliga A. In the 2013–14 season, Kara scored 32 goals in 27 Oberliga appearances but the team did not achieve promotion following a seventh-place finish.
Austria Wien II Ahead of the
2014–15 season, 18-year-old Kara signed with
Austria Wien, spending two seasons with the club's reserve team in the third-tier
Regionalliga Ost. He made 16 appearances and scored once. His playing time was limited as academy director Ralf Muhr expressed doubts about his fitness level.
FC Mauerwerk In 2016, Kara returned to the Wiener Stadtliga with Karabakh Wien (later renamed
FC Mauerwerk in 2018). Kara finished his first season with the team as the Wiener Stadtliga top goalscorer with 35 goals in 30 appearances as the team won the division title and promotion to the Regionalliga Ost. In the following two seasons, Kara again led the league in goals with 26 and 22 goals respectively as FC Mauerwerk earned 5th-place and 2nd-place finishes.
SV Horn In July 2019, Kara signed with
SV Horn of the
2. Liga. He made his competitive SV Horn debut on 20 July 2019 in an
ÖFB Cup first round game against FCM Traiskirchen, scoring twice in a 5–1 victory. He made his 2. Liga debut six days later, scoring another two goals as Horn beat Austria Wien II 5–1. With 13 goals in 16 appearances in his debut 2. Liga, Kara attracted first division interest and was sold by Horn after only six months.
Rapid Wien In January 2020,
Austrian Bundesliga club
Rapid Wien signed Kara to a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut on 23 February 2020, entering as an 81st-minute substitute for
Christoph Knasmüllner with Rapid trailing 2–1 to
TSV Hartberg and scored a 90+3rd-minute game-tying goal. In total, Kara scored three goals in nine appearances in the second half of the season. In his first full season with the club, Kara appeared in all 32
Bundesliga games and scored 15 goals, the fourth-highest in the league and the most in the Rapid squad. He also made his continental debut during the 2020–21 season, on 26 August 2020 against
Lokomotiva Zagreb in the
UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win. The team lost in the third qualifying round, dropping them in to the
2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage. Kara scored two Europa League goals, both in a 3–1 win over Irish team
Dundalk, as Rapid finished third behind
Arsenal and
Molde. In March 2021, Rapid head coach
Dietmar Kühbauer likened Kara's height, acrobatic ability and goalscoring prowess to that of a
Zlatan Ibrahimović with fans later nicknaming him "Karabrimovic" on social media.
Orlando City On 27 January 2022, with only six months left on his Rapid contract, Kara was sold to
Major League Soccer team
Orlando City ahead of the
2022 season for a reported $800,000. He signed a three-year
Designated Player contract with additional club options in 2025 and 2026. Ercan scored his first goal in
U.S. Open Cup competition on 10 May 2022, during a 2-1 round of 32 victory over the
Philadelphia Union.
Samsunspor On 2 September 2023, Kara transferred to Turkish
Süper Lig club
Samsunspor for an undisclosed fee.
Return to Rapid Wien On 6 February 2025, Kara returned to
Rapid Wien on loan. On 1 July 2025, Kara made a permanent transfer to Rapid Wien, signing a two-year contract. ==International career==