Why Manchester City have swooped early for Turkish sensation
Published:
Manchester City may have failed to secure any of the stellar names they’ve been linked with thus far this summer, but the Citizens might just have snared a star of the near future.
Enes Unal is only 18 years old and he arrives at the Etihad as a fully-fledged Turkish international already.
It may be a little early to start asking City fans to ‘remember the name’ a la Wayne Rooney all those years ago in an Everton shirt, but there is plenty to get excited about over their new teenage striker’s potential.
At just 16, Unal became the youngest player on record to score in the Turkish Super Lig for his former club Bursaspor, on debut against Galatasaray no less.
He has since gone on to register a fairly modest tally of seven goals in 54 total appearances, though many of those have seen the Bursaspor youth-team product introduced as a substitute.
However his international career at youth level is something to marvel at and must have been a strong influence on City’s decision to pluck him from Turkish football at such a tender age.
As a Turkey U16 player Unal fired in an incredible tally of 25 goals in only 24 appearances, which led the coaches at Bursaspor to fast-track the wonder kid straight into first-team action.
He’s since scored twice across two other age groups from seven run-outs and made his full international bow as a substitute for Turkey back in March – his only cap to date.
Given the competition for places at City there will be obvious questions over his levels of first-team exposure in the coming season, but in light of the proposed shake up of Manuel Pellegrini’s strike force there is hope he’ll be seen.
Reports suggest John Guidetti and Alvaro Negredo have already left, while proposed moves away for Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko could yet create possible openings up front for Unal.
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