Already one of the rising stars of Turkish football, Trabzonspor’s Yusuf Yazici could be set to make a name for himself beyond Turkey’s shores if rumour is to be believed. The 22-year-old attacking midfielder has been strongly linked with a big-money move to France with Lille OSC.
In this scout report, we will be focusing on what aspects of the Trabzon-born player’s game have led him to become so highly regarded both at home and abroad.
Having been granted his first-team debut at the tender age of 18 in 2015, Yazici has never looked back. By the 2017/18 season, he was a first-team regular and went on to score 10 league goals in the campaign that marked his call-up to the Turkish national team.
In this tactical analysis, we will look at some of the player’s qualities that have come to the fore in the 2018/19 season, in which he only enhanced his reputation with a string of strong performances in the Turkish Super Lig.
Position
In the 2018/19 season, Trabzonspor usually lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in which Yazici would feature in the so-called ‘number 10’ role behind veteran forward Hugo Rodallega. As can be seen from his heat map, Yazici has a tendency to drift out to the right-hand side of the pitch, occasionally making runs down the right-hand channel, a position he is also comfortable playing in.
