There is a new emperor in Rome.
Following their unexpected upset against the Catalan giants, Roma will be facing Salah’s Liverpool in the Champions League semifinal. A feat that has only happened once in Roma’s history, back in the 1983/84 season. Manolas’ 82' header that hit the back of Ter Stegen’s net will go down in history as one of Roma’s greatest goals in European tournaments.
With the Liverpool-Roma face-off coming up this Tuesday, I want to highlight a player that has gone under the radar and hasn’t received the appraisal and attention he deserves. Cengiz Ünder.
Ünder, 20, has been brought in to fill PFA’s Player of the Year, Mohamed Salah. Big shoes to fill for a 20 year old in a team that has seen the likes of Totti, Batistuta, and Völler grace the Stadio Olimpico. Ünder signed for the Italian franchise this past summer after Roma paid Istanbul Basaksehir €13.5 million for the services of the Turkish international.
“ He is probably the least known of our new signings. When the manager and I started looking for a left-footed player who can play on the right flank, we thought of him [Ünder] right away. He is a football with great potential who can also play an important role right away.” -Monchi. Praise from Monchi, current director of football at Roma, isn’t something to take lightly. During his tenure as director of football at Sevilla, Monchi has brought in superstars such as Dani Alves, Sergio Ramos, Ivan Rakitic and many more to play at the Sanchez Pizjuan. A credible football figure who has a track record of hitting home runs when it comes to picking young talent. His reputation of being one of the best scouts in Europe is undeniable and that’s the first trigger to shed the light on Ünder.
Cengiz Ünder arrived with high expectations from his coach, Eusebio Di Francesco, as he was brought in to replace Mohamed Salah, the starting winger for Roma for the past two seasons. Unfortunately, Ünder had a very slow start in the Italian capital. Struggling with living alone for the first time and not speaking a word of Italian, Ünder failed to impress the fans or Di Francesco because of his poor perfomances. He only registered 410 minutes before January, equivalent of 4.5 games.
In January, Roma went on a seven game winless run that urged Di Francesco to change his 4–3–3 strategy to a 4–3–2–1, to better assist Dzeko in finding the back of the net. In his new formation, Eusebio decided to trust Ünder on the right wing. With this new lineup, something clicked and Ünder stole the spotlight, scoring the 70th minute winner against Verona to end the winless streak. That wasn’t all, post his game winner, Di Francesco bet once again on Ünder the following week, giving him another opportunity in the starting lineup and Ünder did not disappoint. Roma thrashed Benvento 5–2 with Ünder registering two goals and an assist. Ünder went on to score in his third consecutive game after he opened the scoring following a superb strike from outside the box against Udinese. Ünder then went on to score 5 goals in 4 games.
Ünder is no stranger to facing new challenges, in fact, he embraces them. The Turkish international left his hometown of Sindirgi and moved to Izmir at age of 10 and then later in his career to Istanbul. A story that reminds me of the same career path that Cristiano Ronaldo went through when he left Madeira at age 12. Ünder has grown to love these challenges and silencing his critics who always find negative to say. “I love proving people wrong. I’ve doing since I was 10.” -Ünder. Most young Turkish players would have opted to join one of the big Super Lig teams but not Cengiz Ünder. When Roma called, he didn’t not hesitate, he wanted the challenge, it feeds his drive.
Ünder snubbed Manchester City for Roma. This past summer both Man City and Roma were negotiating with Ünder. Guardiola’s City wanted to sign Ünder and immediately loan him to Freiburg. However, this conflicted with what Ünder what after. Ünder knew that if he moved to a big team early in his career, he wouldn’t get the light of day to showcase his potential. He didn’t want to be another Odegaard, Jese or Adu. He wants to be vital and crucial for the team he joined, hence joining Roma. “He [Monchi] made it clear that he wanted me as a player for the first team squad, not as a future prospect. He valued me as footballer in my own right now, as a rising star with potential.” -Ünder.
Ünder came up huge for Roma the past few months. Scoring the vital away goal against Shakhtar on his Champions League debut, playing 71 minutes and not once did he look out of place on the field in Ukraine. Ünder’s dribbling and pace give him the ability to play in several positions on the field, but the wing is where he’s most comfortable. He has a powerful left that allows him to fire cannons on goal, a sight Roma fans are getting used to. He’s earned the nickname of “Turkish Dybala” because of similar play style. To me, however, I see him more of a Robben-Hazard hybrid. He has a trait of cutting inside on his left until he finds an opening to shoot, but his ball control and dribbling faints remind of that of Hazard’s. Ünder’s biggest strength, I believe, is his ability of being able to line up his shot while still hiding it, how can you prepare for something you can’t see coming?
Roma fans believe he will be the next Mohamed Salah. The man that he will go head to head twice in one week. When Eusebio was asked about Salah post PFA awards, Eusebio went on to say “Salah is not here anymore, but I can count on Ünder, a young and skilled player.” It’s worth mentioning that Ünder was the player who took the corner in the 82' minute against Barcelona which saw Manolas’ head at the end of it to send Roma to the semis. Eusebio isn’t the only manager counting on Ünder, Mircea Lucescu [Turkey’s National Team manager], will also be depending on the Turkish wonderkid. “I’ll be counting on him [Ünder] a lot in the future. Cengiz will become a pillar of the new national team.” -Lucescu. I see a partnership of Celta’s Emre Mor and Cengiz Ünder to be very lethal in the near future, Turkey’s offense will be firing on all cylinders.
I see Ünder as a rising superstar who can be a go-to player on many teams, but I think he will be very well suited to be a Robin instead of Batman. His quality is undeniable, Barcelona is currently interested in acquiring the services of the Turkish National. I vision him playing in a big team in 2–3 years time where he’ll be crucial for the first team. He will be a great Suarez to a Messi, but also has the potential to run his own team if he develops year after year the same way Salah did.
