Turks Abroad Player Ratings: Enes Unal & West Ham star make history, Liverpool midfielder dropped, Mesut Ozil kicks off Premier League campaign

Emre Sarigul

August 23, 2016

As far as Turks abroad were concerned it was a pretty good week. There were a few exceptions, Emre Can was unable to play for Liverpool due to a minor back injury, Gokhan Inler remains in no-mans-land as far as Leicester City are concerned and Caner Erkin has fallen out of favour with recently appointed Inter boss Frank de Boer.

Enes Unal – 10

The Manchester City youngster turned down a loan move to NAC Breda in favour of Eredivisie football with Twente. Unal proved why he should be considered a top-tier player after scoring a hat-trick within 16 minutes in the first half. And not any old hat-trick either. Each of the three goals were a candidate for goal of season.

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Arda Turan – 9

Turan looked down and out after Euro 2016, his reputation was in tatters, his Barcelona future was in doubt and there were reports of him being forced out the club. The bearded winger showed tremendous character in being able to block out the naysayers and respond on the pitch. The 29-year-old scored and provided an assists in the 6-2 demolition of Real Betis. Turan now has three goals and an assist in his last three games for Barca this season. The Turkish international has been playing in his preferred attacking midfield role in the absence of Neymar and has excelled in his new role. Turan made 58 passes at a very impressive 95 percent accuracy and pulled off more successful dribbles that any other player (3).

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Gokhan Tore – 8

West Ham won their first league game at the Olympic stadium with a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth thanks to an Antonio goal setup by Gokhan Tore. The explosive became the first player to provide an assist in the Olympic stadium and setup his first goal in his first Premier League game for the Hammers in the process. The Turkish international winger made more key passes than any other player over the 90 minutes (4), made three successful dribbles and pulled off seven crosses including the one that resulted in the goal. Tore is still not 100 percent fit and still needs time to settle and adapt to his teammates but the signs are promising.

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Mesut Ozil – 6

Ozil made his first appearance of the season coming on as a second half substitute. The Gunners may have been held to a goalless draw against Leicester City but Ozil did give the fans something to cheer about with this audacious Cruyff turn.

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