With Enes Unal set to be City’s first signing of the summer, potentially signing this week, TMB’s Josh Lawless quizzed Turkish Football expert Emre Sarigul on Unal’s style of play, record at youth level and whether City fans should be excited about this talent.
So Manchester City are very close to signing Enes Unal from Bursaspor, is this the sort of player that fans should be excited about?
Enes Ünal is quite simply the most exciting home-grown Turkish striker since the Bull of the Bosphorus – Hakan Şükür. It is still early days and he is not the finished article just but he is undoubtedly a very talented young player.
The consensus is that he has been very prolific at youth level, what is his goal record like?
His youth level record is staggering. 182 goals in 110 appearances for Bursaspor’s reserves and 24 goals in 25 international games for Turkey at under-16 level. Ünal already has his first senior international cap and became the youngest ever player to score in the Süper Lig aged 16.
He’s not likely to come straight into the side and could possibly start off in the Elite Development Squad at City. How close is he to breaking into a first team squad like City’s
Ünal is a diamond in the rough and will need some polishing before breaking into the City side. He will probably be loaned out but should Ünal stay, he could make the League Cup squad or the FA Cup team at the early stages.
With the new outstanding facilities at the City Football Academy, is this the right place for Unal’s development?
Definitely. Turkey has the highest young population in Europe but one of the worst youth setups. In the right hands Ünal really could become a special player and City offer a level of coaching he simply would not have access to had he remained. Saying that, Bursaspor are rapidly gaining a reputation for player development. 19-year-old striker Batuhan Altıntaş was recently sold to HSV and 20-year-old Ozan Tufan has been linked with just about every major club in Europe.
Were there any other clubs in for him? Should this signing be seen as a coup for Manchester City?
I spoke with his agent who confirmed there was strong interest from Germany, Spain, Italy as well as England. Chelsea were close to signing him before he signed a professional contract with Bursaspor. Borussia Monchengladbach and Roma were also keeping close tabs on the youngster.
Finally, what can you tell us about Unal’s style of play?
Ünal is a powerful striker for his age who is lethal in front of goal. He has impressive composure for such a young player and good technique/first touch. He will need to work on his heading ability and overall fitness/strength to compete against Premier League sides.
