What Cengiz Ünder Can Bring to Leicester City?

As player announcements go, Leicester City's in-house media team made the small, but satisfying, leap to the mythic realm of WWE when hinting at the arrival of the wonderfully named Cengiz Ünder.

Even the Deadman himself acknowledged the wink in his direction by giving his own (poetic) seal of approval.

Ünder - who was actually given the rather less catchy nickname of 'Speedy Cengiz' during his days in Turkey - arrives on a season-long loan at Leicester not via the River Styx, but Roma. The 23-year-old right winger spent three years in the Italian capital, at first furthering his status as one of Europe's most exciting talents before injury and a tumble down the pecking order last season.

Yet, six minutes into the 2019/20 campaign, Ünder was already on the scoresheet, executing a trademark shimmy onto his stronger left side before firing in Roma's opening goal of the Serie A season.

A bicep injury the following month put an abrupt halt to an encouraging start. By the time he was fit, Ünder struggled for minutes and only started one of Roma's 13 post-lockdown matches - a game in which he was hooked at half-time.

Ünder's first two years at Roma, after moving from Istanbul Basaksehir for €15m in 2017, were both impressive but showcased remarkably different skillsets. The change in focus can be seen from his basic output in each campaign.

In his debut season with the Giallorossi (2017/18), Ünder finished up with seven league goals and three assists. In the following term, he only found the net twice but laid on seven assists.

This shift to a more creative style of play is also borne out by his underlying numbers. While his expected goals and shots dipped after the summer of 2018, Ünder's expected assists and chances created spiked.

Still very much in his early 20s, it is perhaps understandable that Ünder's approach may be subject to some nuanced change but Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has suggested the Foxes are keen on nurturing the playmaking aspect of his game.

After Leicester's 4-2 victory over Burnley on Sunday night, Rodgers' first words on Ünder were: "He'll bring more creativity."

Rodgers went on to outline his desired impact: “With defences that are organised, you need different types of qualities to break that down,” as quoted by the Leicester Mercury. “We’ve got tremendous speed at the top end of the field and on the sides, but we also need a little bit of football in there when it’s tight and you need to be able to make a pass or dribble past someone. That’s the type of profile we were looking for.”

While Ünder's goal and assist output has fluctuated, the Turkey international has never really shown an aptitude to pressing.

Leicester's (ultimately unsuccessful) assault of the Champions League places last season was underpinned by an active press. The Foxes had the lowest average passes per defensive action (PPDA) - a good proxy for quantifying a side's willingness to press - among any team in the Premier League in the previous campaign.

Yet, throughout his time in Serie A, Ünder has shown little willingness to apply pressure or win the ball high up the pitch. In the past two seasons that could be attributed to Roma playing a style based less on pressing. However, in 2017/18 Roma - on their way to a third-place finish and the Champions League semi-finals - recorded the second-lowest PPDA in Serie A.

However, Ünder still didn’t apply much pressure and was less active than his teammates.

Ayoze Pérez, the man Ünder will likely compete with for a place on Leicester's right-hand side, was one of the most active and effective pressers among forwards in the Premier League last season, attempting and completing almost double the number of pressures per game Ünder has averaged over the past three seasons.

This lack of off the ball activity may be due to some the struggles for fitness and stamina Ünder has acknowledged, admitting to Roma's official website last year: "I need to improve physically, that's for sure."

A lengthy injury layoff in the time since he made that statement will not have particularly helped this pursuit.

Nonetheless, when Ünder is fit and healthy he poses numerous threats to opposition defences, either by going for goal himself or finding a teammate.

This loan deal - with no obligation to buy - represents something as close to a risk-free arrangement as anyone is likely to find in the modern day transfer window. Another smart piece of business by Leicester almost regardless of Ünder's adaptation to England.

Rediscovering his best form wouldn't quite represent a comeback as dramatic as a return from the Ünderworld but 'Cengo' - another underwhelming nickname - may very well send shivers down the spines of one or two defenders this season.