Enes Ünal signed for Manchester City in 2015 as an 18-year-old yet never made an appearance. Three loan spells later, he moved to Villarreal, but was sent on a two-year loan to Real Valladolid in the summer of 2018. Subsequent to his two seasons in Valladolid, Ünal, only 23 now, was signed permanently by Getafe for a fee of just over £8 million. With journeyman striker and club legend Jorge Molina not being offered a new contract, Getafe opted to sign Ünal to fill the central-striker void. This tactical analysis will not only focus on Ünal individually, but it will also concern how he may fit into the system that manager José Bordalás employs.
Player profile
We will begin by addressing his heatmap from last season.
As expected, the penalty area is one of the more deeply coloured areas, suggesting Ünal’s willingness to ultimately get in the box and score goals – the number one task for any striker. More strikingly, both the left and right channel areas appear deeply-yellowed. While this implies comfort as playing as either a left or a right striker, it also suggests Ünal’s desire to take up a wider starting position when not on the ball. These starting positions can cater for diagonal movements into the box, as opposed to straight runs (which are much easier to defend).
He made 35 appearances for Real Valladolid last season, scoring six goals and making one assist. He managed the 12th most shots in La Liga last season, with 2.14 per 90, accruing an xG of 10.61. The underperformance of his xG by 4.61 leaves a lot to be desired in a finishing sense, but the figure does attest to an ability to get into goalscoring positions. His shot map below displays his shots and goals in the last 12 months in all matches. The locations of his shots and goals are mostly clustered together in the centre of the box.
