When in the summer of 2020 Getafe launched to pay nine million euros to Villarreal for Enes Ünal (Bursa, Turkey, 24 years old) it became one of those bets that modest clubs regularly seek in the market. An attacker with a promising past who has not finished breaking into the elite as a scorer. The seven goals he has scored so far this season have propelled Quique Flores’ team out of the relegation zone and begin to confirm the hopes that president Ángel Torres and sports director Martín González placed when they agreed on the operation. This Saturday, he appears at the Metropolitano (9:00 p.m., Movistar LaLiga) as the great threat to Atlético’s questionable defense.
“I strongly believe in team play and I love going into battle with my teammates. I had some difficult moments, but I feel like I’m maturing in front of goal. I know that I can score in different ways”, he assures. Except for the 16-17 season, when he played on loan from Manchester City in the Dutch club Twente (19 goals), Unal’s figures did not correspond to the potential that was attributed to him. The English team had recruited him at the age of 18 from Bursaspor for 3.5 million euros a year before the arrival of Pep Guardiola. “I will always be grateful to City, they gave me the opportunity to come to Europe and explore my full potential. The first training sessions with top-level coaches and players and the apprenticeships were an incredible experience”, he recalls. He never made his debut in the first team, but his successful passage through the Dutch Twente (19 goals), tras having tried Genk and Breda before, they earned Villarreal the most expensive signing in its history at that time by paying 15 million euros to City in July 2017. “I would say that the Netherlands was great to win confidence, learn the movements that a striker should make. I had a great coach [René Hake] and it was the first place where I started to learn about the defensive work of forwards and now it is part of my game”, he continues.
Trained in his country under the direction of former Turkish coach Senol Günes, he detected a defect in him to be polished “Enes is a talented player and superior to his teammates, but in terms of style he still has to improve. Otherwise, his work will be difficult. He is good in terms of strength, but he needs to battle more with the opponent. His reaction to hard play needs to improve,” warned the coach who led Turkey to third place in the 2002 World Cup. “When I became a first-team player at Bursaspor at the age of 16, this was the first question because as a striker I should be able to fight against defenders. I worked hard to become physically stronger and at the same time learned how to use my body. The most important thing is that if you know how to get up after a tackle, you become stronger”, admits Unal.
When he signed for Villarreal, the reports were not different from those later handled by Getafe. Young, physical, hard-working scorer, with good movements and handling of the ball and a cannon in his right leg. The yellow club also signed for its women’s team what is now his wife, the Belgian soccer player Lisa Smellers. In Villarreal they say that he did not let go and played self-consciously. He barely starred in a glory night in his first season. Curiously, after being picked up in the winter market after a first three-month loan to Levante. It was against Atlético de Madrid, which Villarreal came from behind (2.1) with two of their goals at La Cerámica in the final minutes. He did not explode and was loaned to Valladolid for two seasons in which he scored six goals per season before accepting the transfer to Getafe. Pablo Ortells, now the sports director of Mallorca, who took him to Villarreal, always defended his worth and that sooner or later he would explode. In Pucela he only scored six goals per course, but the presidency and the sports management of the Madrid club trusted that he would awaken the punch that he shows now.
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