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Tottenham won’t get immediate boost from Turkish starlet

By Rucker Haringey

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - APRIL 26 : Cengiz Under of Medipol Basaksehir celebrates after scoring a goal during the Ziraat Turkish Cup semi final soccer match between Medipol Basaksehir and Fenerbahce at Istanbul Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on April 26, 2017. (Photo by Onur Coban/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
ISTANBUL, TURKEY - APRIL 26 : Cengiz Under of Medipol Basaksehir celebrates after scoring a goal during the Ziraat Turkish Cup semi final soccer match between Medipol Basaksehir and Fenerbahce at Istanbul Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on April 26, 2017. (Photo by Onur Coban/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham won’t count on Cengiz Under early

The vast majority of Tottenham fans were caught off guard when reports of Spurs striking an agreement to sign Turkish attacker Cengiz Under broke. The talented winger hadn’t been mentioned at all in conjunction with the club previously. While he might end up as a savvy signing for Spurs, he shouldn’t be expected to contribute much early on.

Turkish radio station Radyospor broke the news that Tottenham had won the race to sign Under. The talented starlet had been scouted by a number of clubs this season including Manchester United, but Spurs reportedly won his rights for a bid of somewhere around £8 million.

Until we receive official confirmation from multiple sources it’s fair to view these reports with a grain of salt. For the sake of discussion, we’re going to assume that Under will be headed to North London this summer. If that is the case, Tottenham fans should temper their expectations of him making much of an impact early on.

The 19-year-old deserves a lot of credit for making a significant jump in play this year. He went from Turkey’s second division to the Super Lig and didn’t miss a beat. Under was an important contributor for a club that managed to significantly exceed expectations and earn a second place finish in the league.

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Under made 30 starts for Basaksehir and managed to contribute seven goals and five assists to his club’s cause. Unfortunately, he was one of the club’s weakest starters from a statistical perspective. Looking at his Whoscored.com player rating average of just 6.96 makes it pretty clear he has a long way to go as a player. When he’s not involved in a goal, he isn’t giving his club very much output.

For comparisons sake, former Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor managed a rating of 7.19 in his 10 appearances. Under’s play wasn’t miles below the former Premier League striker, but Adebayor isn’t exactly in his prime either. If Under isn’t better than him at the current point in time, he’s going to have a massive amount of work to do to break into Mauricio Pochettino’s starting XI.

This isn’t to say that Under couldn’t end up being a great signing for the club. As I mentioned previously, he’s had a pretty meteoric rise over the last several seasons. He’s gone from a complete unknown to one of the most talented young players in Turkey in very short order. It’s not impossible that his development could pick up even more under the tutelage of Spurs coaches.

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What I am saying, is that Under isn’t going to be a huge boost to Tottenham in the short-term. This would be a purchase for the future. Think of it as another lottery ticket for the club. Time will tell if it turns out to be Dele Alli or Clinton N’Jie.

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