Liverpool are
set to make a major coup in securing the loan-signing of Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin.
Turkish international Sahin is more famed for his time with German champions Borussia Dortmund than anything he's achieved at the Bernabeu.
Sahin has struggled with various injuries since moving to Spain, just over a year ago and made only four league appearances under Jose Mourinho.
The €10million offer from Real triggered a sell-on clause in Sahin’s contract at Signal Iduna Park and thus, he signed a six-year-deal with Los Merengues.
The long-standing injuries aside, Sahin was a long-term recruit for Mourinho.
A year-long loan spell in the English Premier League will be ideal for the Turkish midfielder who needs to continue to play competitive football.
This could potentially lead to a long-term deal but Sahin is still firmly in Mourinho’s plans and he will inevitably return to Madrid an improved player.
Despite being just 23, Sahin is hugely experienced for his age with 31 international appearances for Turkey, over 150 games for Borussia Dortmund and a season-long loan with Dutch giants Feyenoord.
Many have already criticised Arsene Wenger for NOT signing a defensive-midfielder with Sahin largely classed as a ‘ball-playing’ midfielder.
That is true, to some extent, but Sahin is an intelligent player.
He formed a really strong defensive-midfield partnership with Sven Bender in Dortmund’s first championship win and is certainly capable of bringing some shrewd defensive play to the Arsenal midfield.
Sahin isn’t a tough-tackler necessarily but his timing of interceptions and awareness of what is around him is spot-on.
But of course, Sahin’s main attributes are when in possession and he has a fantastic left-foot and an excellent range of passing.
In a more expansive system, Sahin will often drop between the central-defenders to receive the ball and move it forward to the likes of Cazorla and others.
It was similarly the case with Sahin collecting the ball from deep and making sure Dortmund’s star-men – Kagawa, Gotze etc – were quickly involved in the play.
Goals from Sahin were rare in his time with BVB but one to remember for the 23-year-old came at the Allianz Arena in 2010, where he produced a stunning curling effort from the edge of the box to put Dortmund two goals ahead in the match.
During his penultimate year in Germany, he scored seven league goals and clinched his first Bundesliga winners medal.