Everton could reportedly take a leaf out of Jurgen Klopp’s book by raiding Serie A giants Roma and bringing Cengiz Under to the Premier League.
Three years ago, Liverpool embarked on a raid of Rome and brought a speedy little winger to Merseyside. The rest, as they say, is history.
Mo Salah has scribed his name into Anfield folklore, alongside Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard and more, after helping to transform Jurgen Klopp’s once thrilling-yet-fallible side into the greatest football team on Planet Earth.
Asking Cengiz Under to replicate such achievements on the other side of Stanley Park would certainly be more than a little unfair.
But with Tuttomercatweb reporting that Everton are leading Tottenham in the race to bring another Roma-based wideman to the north west, with a £26 million bid on the cards, comparisons with a certain Egyptian superstar feel all-but inevitable already.
After all, Under himself idolises a man who looks set to end the 2019/20 campaign, whenever that may be, with the Premier League trophy in his grasp.
“He’s an incredible player. It was impossible to stop him when we met Liverpool. It is an honor for me to replace him,” Under said after joining Roma from Istanbul Basaksehir in 2018 to fill a Salah-shaped hole at the Stadio Olimpico, in quotes reported by MyNet.
“I want to do great things here. I hope one day I will be a big player like him.”
While Salah got better and better as time went on at Roma, adding a much-needed ruthless streak to his explosive pace, there is a nagging feeling that Under’s development has plateaud somewhat in the last two seasons.
A stocky and intuitive little dynamo who shot to fame in 2017/18 with a series of eye-catching Champions League displays, he has produced three goals and zero assists during the current campaign.
If Liverpool were buying a man who was already pretty much the ‘finished article’, Everton will have a lot of work to do if they want Under to reach the standards set by Salah.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
