Enes Unal has 17 goals so far this season in the Eredivisie. That puts the 19 year old 3 goals ahead of Kasper Dolberg. It wouldn’t be too hard to argue that it’s been harder to score for Unal as he plays for FC Twente, a full 30 points behind Ajax in the league table.
Unal is owned by Manchester City, and was bought in 2015 from Bursapor. The second half of last season the youngster was on loan at NAC Breda, and also had a great goalscoring record.
Now the time comes to decide what to do for the future, and Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf have spoken to the player, who told them: “The next step in my career becomes very important, I hope to make a decision in June.”
It’s assumed Unal wouldn’t be able to get a work permit because he hasn’t played 75% of his country’s games over the past two years. The youngster has played 5 times since making his debut in 2015, so is involved with the Turkish set-up.
Work permit applications aren’t as straightforward as being judged solely on international percentages, and haven’t been for some time. Given Unal’s excellent record in Dutch football, Manchester City would surely feel they’d have at least a chance of building an argument, so it’s not one to give up straightaway.
Unal, an out and out centre forward, could be Pep Guardiola’s secret weapon, whether that be next season or the one after, and Manchester City need to decide what happens from here.
The hotshot told De Telegraaf that’s he’s not looking for money now, nor is he in a rush, and he wants to be at the top level by the age of 24. That’s a full five years to play with.
Assuming Guardiola doesn’t feel Unal is ready to battle for him, then the next step could be a bigger loan club. It’ll be interesting to see if Manchester City plan to keep Unal for their pre-season tour, the player himself seems unsure on that.
Whilst Unal would grasp the chance to play under Guardiola, and for his parent club, he doesn’t want to limit his choices for a loan club by not being available during pre-season.
