A left-footed right winger on loan with an option to buy? It feels like we’ve been here before. Yunus Akgün is the latest in a long line – so how do we rate his signing out of 10?
David Bevan: 8
The more I think about the signings we’re making this summer and seeing how they fit into the early days of this new setup under Enzo Maresca, the more I’m realising the value we’re now placing on technical ability.
Brendan Rodgers valued possession, but not like this. There’s no way Maresca would have played Daniel Amartey for more than one game, for a start. Everyone on the pitch has to have a decent first touch and the ability to play a simple pass. Then they’ve all individually got other talents to add over and above that basic requirement.
First impressions of Akgün (based on watching his final game for Galatasaray and brief highlights of his first outing in a blue shirt at Tranmere) are that he fits the mould nicely – he looks like a technically excellent player who will drift inside a lot, commit defenders and find line-breaking passes from the pockets behind the striker.
Whether he’s quick enough to scare the better defenders in the division, we’ll see. He appears to lack a bit of pace to me, but I remember initially thinking the same of a certain other little-known left-footed right winger who joined us in the Championship. Even ten per cent of that kind of impact and Yunus will become a hero.
Iain Wright: 8
He’s a player that has sort of come out of nowhere. Until last week, I hadn’t seen us linked with him so it’s good that we’ve kept the signing under the radar. It seems like we’re taking a punt on someone who’s done well in the recent past but gone off the boil in the intense heat of Galatasaray last season.
He’ll inevitably be compared to Ünder but Akgün is far less experienced than his ultimately underwhelming compatriot. We’ll need to be patient but I really hope he does well as I’m sure we’re all fed up of the endless search for someone to nail down this right wing role.
All in all, it’s a signing that matches our situation. We’re not getting a player near to the finished article. Instead, we’re hoping we have a raw young player who’ll hopefully turn into a star. What we need him to do is give us a bit of pace, threat and stardust in the final third, which we’ve lacked a little bit at times. Which is understandable considering the inexperienced players we’ve had out wide so far.
We all wanted young, hungry players, so with Akgün, Mavididi, WMM and McAteer (plus maybe another winger) we’ve certainly got that and those players should give us depth to rotate round and keep them all fresh.
A positive signing.
James Knight: 9.5
There’s something about his swaggering entrance that makes me feel good about this one. Whenever we’ve signed a right winger before it’s always felt a bit apologetic, someone squeezed in at the last minute, where the first thing you find on Google is a gif of them falling over the ball.
This was one where the links had been percolating for a while, and then when he did arrive he waltzed in and started talking about how many trophies he wants to win. We need more players with that sort of outrageous confidence, particularly in attacking areas. It’s all been too nice for too long.
So, all in all, I’m completely in. Even more so after his cushty first touch helped set up the second goal on Tuesday night.
Plus: lads, it’s the Championship. 20 goals confirmed.
