Jose Mourinho will soon be coaching Cengiz Under at Roma having tried and failed to bring the winger to the Premier League during his time as Tottenham Hotspur manager, as reported by Gazzetta dello Sport.
While many may be wishing Italy’s answer to Paul Gascoigne had made that much-discussed move to north London, it’s hard to imagine Under would elicit the same response from Tottenham supporters.
After all, the Turkey international won’t look back on his time at Leicester City with much fondness.
During a forgettable season on loan in the East Midlands, Under started just one Premier League game before tumbling down the pecking order.
By the time reports emerged that Leicester wouldn’t trigger the £18 million option-to-buy clause in his contract, you’d have been forgiven for wondering what an earth had happened to a man who arrived at the King Power to so much fanfare.
Would Jose Mourinho have brought Cengiz Under to Tottenham?
Fortunately for the 23-year-old, a clean slate appears to be coming his way.
Gazzetta dello Sport claims Mourinho remains a big fan of a player he wanted at Tottenham – and the admiration goes both ways.
“My dream since childhood was to be coached by Mou,” says Under, his lifelong ambition on the verge of becoming reality.
If anything can be learned from the youngster’s spell at Leicester, however, it’s that big improvements must be made if Under is to become a key player under Mourinho at Roma.
His decision-making and end product left a lot to be desired at Leicester and, with Pedro and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both plying their trade in the Italian capital, Under would be fighting for a place with two men Mourinho knows well.
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