Why Signing Roma’s Cengiz Under Would Be A Great Move By Barcelona
AS Roma sporting director Monchi has admitted that Barcelona have enquired about Cengiz Under, as per a report from Turkish newspaper Radyaspor (h/t Goal).
Having kept Diego Perotti out of the first-team, Under has gone on to score 6 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions for Roma this season.
Despite making a slow start to life in the Serie A, the 20-year-old has remarkably turned things around for himself. He joined Roma from Istanbul Basaksehir last summer and has gone on to become one of the most exciting prospects in European football.
Under will come face-to-face with Barcelona very soon. After scoring a vital goal for Roma against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, the Italians will now have to play Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The match will give the Catalans a good opportunity to observe him up close and it is important that the wideman does well. At present, his career graph seems to be on an upward trajectory and he deserves all the attention he has been receiving.
Let’s get down to business. Even if Barcelona do pursue a deal for him this summer, where would he fit in? Under usually occupies the right-wing role and has also played on the right-hand side of the midfield for Roma.
That makes him a comparatively low-cost option to provide competition for Ousmane Dembele and replace Aleix Vidal, who could leave Camp Nou this summer, as per a report from Diario Gol. Ernesto Valverde has used a 4-4-2 formation for a good majority of this season and has often used players from different positions on the right-hand side due to a significant dearth of options.
Hence, if Vidal leaves Barcelona, Under could be a good option to fill the vacancy. Furthermore, having him in the squad would provide Valverde with a solid alternative to Dembele.
The former Borussia Dortmund star’s crossing skills are quite weak but Under is a brilliant crosser of the ball. Thus, the Catalans can benefit by making a move to sign the talented young star but it remains to be seen if they succeed in doing so. If they do succeed in signing him, it would be a shrewd piece of business by Barcelona.