Cengiz Under of Leicester City during the UEFA Europa League match at the King Power Stadium, Leicester. Picture date: 10th December 2020. Picture credit should read: Darren Staples/Sportimage PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUK SPI-0797-0036
According to Leicestershire Live, Leicester City are pondering over the future of on-loan winger Cengiz Under. The Roma forward joined the Foxes on a one-year loan deal at the start of this season.
However, he has not featured much and his contributions have been meagre. It has come to the situation where Under is fighting to prove his importance to the club and Leicester are to decide his future at the end of the season.
Born in Turkey, Under came through the ranks of Bucaspor’s youth system and joined Altinordu’s U16 side in 2013. He went on to make 58 appearances for Altinordu before joining Istanbul Basaksehir in 2016. He impressed with 9 goals and 7 assists in 43 games.
The 23-year-old was picked up by Roma the following summer and he immediately established himself as a regular member of the squad. His time in Italy got off to a brilliant start but later on, injuries hampered his progress. Under fell down the pecking order and managed to make just 10 league starts last season.
Leicester signed him on loan at the start of the season and he has gone on to feature 12 times for them scoring once and assisting thrice. A full international for Turkey, Under has 25 caps and 7 goals for his nation.
In his debut season in Italy, he scored 7 league goals and followed it with 3 goals and 7 assists in the next campaign. He has been an influential member of the squad but he has struggled with injuries last season.
The Turkish international has the ability to succeed at the highest level and he could go on to be a long-term addition to Leicester’s squad. There is the argument for Under that he has been afforded just two starts in the 12 games he has featured.
It is natural for a player to take time to get acclimatized to a new country and new league. His case has not been helped by the fact that he has been given sporadic games and rare starts.
Given the lack of quality on the flanks, Leicester need wingers to bolster their attack. And Under would bring healthy competition within the squad. He could also represent them in the long run by learning under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers. Thus, they should persist with the 23-year-old until the end of the season.