Freiburg wonder-kid Caglar Soyuncu has enjoyed a meteoric rise going from the Turkish second tier to establishing himself as one of the hottest young defenders in the Bundesliga.
Turkish-Football revealed yesterday that Leicester City have completed the transfer of Soyuncu for a £20m fee on a five-year deal.
See More: For all Caglar Soyuncu news and everything else you wanted to know about the Turkish football star
We take a look at three reasons Soyuncu could end up being a success at the King Power Stadium.
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The Modern Defender
The modern defender is expected to be adept at bringing the ball out of defence, have decent technical ability and pass accurately – in addition to covering the basics such as tackling, making interceptions and positioning.
Soyuncu started as a striker at youth level where he developed an understanding for playing in the final third. The young defender is surprisingly nifty on his feet and skillful for a player of his size and position.
The 22-year-old went from playing second-tier football at Altinordu to breaking into the first team at a Bundesliga side and establishing himself as a regular in the starting lineup. Soyuncu is a fearless, dual footed defender capable of playing the ball out of defence and contributing to attacking moves with darting runs. He’s great in the air, strong in the tackle and hard working. Only Benjamin Pavard (70) and Dayotchanculle Upamecano (55) made more interceptions than Soyuncu (54) last season.
He does however, have to work on his concentration and improve his passing accuracy which stands at 81 percent this season. Soyuncu can get carried away at times and likes to think of himself as a playmaker from deep leading to the occassional slipup. It’s an aspect of his game that will develop with experience.
There is no denying Soyuncu’s potential and in the right hands he could be crafted into a top-class defender.
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Adaptability
As mentioned above Soyuncu went from playing in the Turkish second-tier to establishing himself as a first-choice star in Bundesliga. The Turkey international showed remarkable maturity to lock down a starting role at such a young age and adapt seamlessly into life in Germany. The 22-year-old may have come from the second league but I must stress, he emerged from the Altinordu academy. The club are producing talent of a caliber rarely seen before in Turkey. The Izmir based side are flying under the radar but expect that the change soon. The fact that Soyuncu managed to prove himself in the German top-tier is no fluke. He was roommates with Cengiz Under before the winger moved to Basaksehir and Roma. Like Soyuncu, he also hit the ground running in a league you’d expect him to struggle in. The players being produced at Altinordu are cut from a different cloth. It is a matter of time before players produced at the club start going for far higher fees. Leicester got in early and are likely to reap the rewards.
The official Bundesliga website named him as being one of the stars of tomorrow.
Soyuncu also made the official Bundesliga shortlist for ‘Rookie of the Season‘. The award goes to the best under-21 player of the season and is decided by a fans vote.
The defender has one goal in 19 appearances for the German side this season. He also happens to be first-choice defender for Turkey and has 13 caps under his belt.
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Potential
Soyuncu has great foundations as we already established. The young centre-back is not the finished article just yet but he arguably has a higher ceiling than Harry Maguire who is rated as being worth £65m. Soyuncu made a smooth transition from Turkish second division football to the Bundesliga. Despite his age the young defender was one of the highest rated young defenders in Germany and a regular call-up to the Turkish national side.
