Yalçın Kayan was born on 30 January 1999 in Konak, İzmir. He played youth football for Altay and Karşıyaka before joining Göztepe's academy in 2016, and made his professional debut for Göztepe in a Süper Lig match against Kayserispor in September 2018.

He spent seven seasons in Göztepe's first team, making 128 league appearances and scoring 13 goals; his most productive campaign was 2023–24 in the TFF First League, with 9 goals in 34 matches. In January 2025 he moved to Eyüpspor, and on 10 January 2026 he joined Samsunspor on a contract running until June 2028. He scored twice in a Turkish Cup win over Aliağa soon after his arrival and wears the number 20 shirt.