Enes Unal to Bournemouth: Best January Bargain for Bournemouth?

As Enes Unal’s move was confirmed to Bournemouth, it was definitely the one a lot didn’t expect could happen. With Dominic Solanke hitting a good season so far under Iraola, maybe another striker could or couldn’t have been the most important agenda for Bournemouth but with Enes Unal, whom Iraola has seen and had run ins against at his time in LA Liga, it makes sense why this move happened.

For Bournemouth fans, this article serves as what they can expect from one of Spanish football’s most prolific scorers in last 2-3 seasons.

Video Scouting Enes Unal

A different profile for Bournemouth

In first thoughts, after you watch Unal, you definitely feel his profile is different from Solanke. Unal’s much more of a roaming central striker who usually has a solid technique when dealing with the ball at his feet back to goal. That makes the idea possible that in any 2 striker system, depending on the role he’s asked to do, he can fit in easily while still having phenomenal ball manipulation inside the box to work as a lone striker.

But what makes Enes Unal valuable is the fact that he has a brilliant knack for scoring from set pieces. A player that prefers striking hard using the knuckle ball, he also adds a different layer to his game, in situations where a set piece makes a massive difference.

What story does Data Tell

Unal’s main traits become visible in plain sight when you look at radar above. A forward whose Expected goal or assist metrics aren’t high but his all-round attributes are more visible with him being a great threat at playing progressive passes and taking a good amount of touches in the penalty area. Add to this that he has a phenomenal Aerials won ratio amongst forwards and interceptions ( interceptions are a better metric than tackles to show the amount of proactive defensive work), this easily places him in the bracket of forwards who can work in Iraola’s OOP ideas.

If the initial radar told you about Enes Unal’s profile summed up as a whole, Radar 2 tells you what makes Unal’s profile special when measuring up with what Bournemouth already have. In simple words, you can say that his strengths lie better at where Solanke necessarily hasn’t shown the best attributes. The more detailed answer would be, it allows Iraola an opportunity to play 2 centre forwards who can complement each other to achieve a single unit force that represents an ideal well-rounded forward. A well-rounded forward with these overlapping skills would probably cost upwards of 70M, bit with Unal’s bargain, replicating that setup by combining his and Solanke’s skills is what makes this move a smart one.

Conclusions

A long-term move for a long-term project or a Fix for the season??

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The big issue that stems from the signing, the one that fans also are skeptical is the fact that Unal’s ACL has put doubts about how soon or how well can Enes Unal replicate the form he showed at Getafe. While Iraola was quick to dismiss concerns when asked on same, fans can only wait and hope Unal is part of something long-term for the Cherries. While a Solanke-Unal Partnership is mouth-watering, the fact that Solanke’s future was up in the air even days before the window closed is a testament that if Enes Unal in the unlikely case of Solanke’s departure do the job at Vitality Stadium. For now, the next 6 months should answer most of these questions.