When Antoine Semenyo had the ball on the right wing — as he did plenty of times against Manchester City — Enes Unal signalled for it as he was making his way into the box. The centre-forward who signed on loan for Bournemouth from Getafe last month knew what kind of pass he wanted his team-mate to make.
An earlier cross had been made by Semenyo and Unal, watching on from the bench until the 88th minute, took note.
“I was thinking if I was on, I would go for that,” he said. “When he (Semenyo) put his head up, I just knew the ball was gonna come because he has that quality.”
Sandwiched between defenders Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji in the box, the 26-year-old Turkey international did well to find space. When Semenyo launched the ball to the edge of the six-yard box, Unal found flight and connection.
He planted the ball down into the ground and it bounced back up. For a split second, it looked bound to slither in and steal a point off Manchester City, who led 1-0 going into stoppage time.
Ederson clambered towards it, eyes widening with worry until it nicked off the wrong side of the post. Unal had his head in his hands, Dias looked at Akanji, both of them looked relieved. It would have been the perfect time for Unal to get his first Premier League goal because it would have arrived against the club he joined as a teenager in 2015.
“Hopefully the next one will go in,” he smiled.
Unal never made a single competitive appearance for City. Instead, he was loaned out to Genk, NAC Breda and FC Twente before eventually joining Villarreal in 2017. Loans at Levante and Valladolid followed before Getafe and now the south coast.
Unal celebrating a goal for Getafe (Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
This was just his third appearance for Bournemouth in the Premier League, all from off the bench, but he is showing what he is capable of. During his time at Getafe, he won more than 400 aerial duels across his 103 appearances. And the 6ft 2in striker was always winning this one.
At Bournemouth, he is tasked with providing support to Dominic Solanke and to challenge for his place. Andoni Iraola, the former Rayo Vallecano coach, who Unal recalls as a difficult manager to beat from their La Liga encounters, prefers to start games with one centre-forward but has often ended them with two.
It was Solanke who carried the ball from deep and passed it to Semenyo in the build-up to Unal’s golden chance. He too had his head in his hands when the header skimmed the post.
“Of course,” Unal said when asked if he can partner Solanke. “He’s a great player. Technically, he’s unbelievable. I can play with him like any other player. He makes the job of others easier because he takes a lot of attention from other players. But this is the gaffer’s decision and I respect it fully.”
Solanke has scored 14 goals in 25 league appearances and is a forward whose performances have worked him back into the England conversation.
With plenty of rumours flying around regarding Solanke’s future, in Unal, Bournemouth fans could be watching the player who goes on to replace him.
As part of the deal with Getafe, Bournemouth have an option to buy Unal for €16.5million (£14.1m, $17.9m). This will become an obligation should certain conditions be met between now and the end of the season.
Unal and Solanke’s journeys have been similar so it feels fitting they have once again crossed paths.
Solanke broke through from Chelsea’s academy and was signed by Liverpool in 2017. That failed to work out and he joined Bournemouth two seasons later.
“He’s a great player, I followed his career. He also had struggles like I had,” Unal said recently. Unal settled in Madrid with Getafe in a similar way to how Solanke found his feet on the south coast. In the last two seasons, before this one which was disrupted by a cruciate ligament injury, Unal scored 30 goals from an expected goals (xG) value of 22.1.
Bournemouth will hope to prise that goalscoring form, which only Karim Benzema could better in La Liga, out of him. They will be hoping to see some of the thunderous strikes on his right foot which Unal made a name for himself in Spain.
Unal and Solanke met 18 years ago at a football tournament and again in 2016 when playing for City and Chelsea’s academy teams.
“My role is to push him to the limit,” Unal said of Solanke after joining Bournemouth on February 1.
On Tuesday when Leicester visit the Vitality Stadium in the FA Cup fifth round, he could be given the opportunity to audition for Solanke’s role if he is given a first start.
“I will give my everything, every single minute if it is one (minute) or if it’s 90,” he said. “This is the best league in the world, the most attractive league in the world because the game is really fast and the pace is unbelievable. It’s beautiful. And the smell of the football here, I love it.”
(Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
