Arsenal plan to complete their midfield jigsaw puzzle today with the loan signing of Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid. But who is Sahin??
Sahin is a midfielder in the Barcelona mould, being able to thread and weave intricate midfield passes and orchestrating the play from the middle of the park. He has the ability to play both long and short balls, knowing when to retain possession, and when to play the killer pass.
He started his career in Germany, being born a German, but with Turkish heritage. Both his parents are Turkish, and Sahin has opted to play his international football for Turkey. Born in Ludenscheid, Germany, he came through the ranks at Dortmund, and was made the youngest ever Bundesliga player when he appeared for Borussia Dortmund in 2005.
Scoring 6 goals and making 8 assists in the 2010/2011 season, helping Dortmund to their first title in nine years, Sahin earned himself a move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2011. However, his progress at Madrid has been mainly blocked by Mesut Ozil, a player who plays in a similar style.
Now Sahin wants to play more 1st team football. The 23 year old is happy to move to Arsenal, and hopefully become a full-time replacement for the Barcelona bound Alex Song. Where Song was more of a defensive midfielder, Sahin is more of an all-rounder, comfortable in both roles. However he may be asked to be more defensive, freeing up the impressive Carzola to be more attacking in his approach.
Jose Mourinho says of Sahin “He’s a young boy, he wants to play every match. In Real Madrid the situation is not easy. When you don’t start well, it is difficult to do it.”
The prospect of Sahin arriving at the Emirates will certainly be the type of Arsenal news than fans have been hoping to here.