Borussia Dortmund landed another transfer coup in the summer when they completed the signing of Emre Mor, labelled as ‘the Turkish Messi’. We can pretty much say that every new young player these days gets the ‘new Messi’ tag around his back so just who is this Emre Mor?
The highly-rated winger was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and represented the Danish national team to Under 19 level before opting to join Turkey. His coach at Nordsjaelland, Kasper Hjulmand, described the decision as a ‘tragedy’ for Danish football. At just 18, he made his senior debut for the Turkish national team and was also included in their European Championship roster some four months ago.
Despite FC Nordsjaelland finishing 9th in the Danish Superliga, he was a standout performer during the campaign. Manchester United, Galatasaray, Ajax and Liverpool were also said to be keen on securing his signature this summer. Mor also underwent a trail with Saint Etienne in 2013 but failed to receive a contract.
A right winger by trade, Mor has the ability to play anywhere around the offensive zones. If deployed from the middle, the youngster tends to make the best out of his abilities, dribbling past defenders at ease whilst always having an eye for that behind the line runs by his teammates. Though most effective in the attacking midfield positions, Mor can also play as a number nine if needed.
Although he had featured in just five games for Dortmund this season, Mor has still managed to create six chances for Thomas Tuchel’s side. Moreover, the Turkish international attempts an impressive 6 take ons per match, which is more than his teammate Ousmane Dembele, the player who has made an even bigger impact.
Often being criticized as ‘selfish player’ Mor has actually been quite good with his passing under Tuchel. The fact that he only completed 60 successful passes doesn’t entirely give us the full identity of his passing abilities.
Due to Dortmund’s immense squad depth, Mor has found it difficult to find game time. He is yet to play a full ninety-minute match this season. The Turkish International managed one goal and two assists in just 286 mins of Bundesliga football. His first goal came in 6:0 thrashing of Darmstadt, where he controlled Pulisic’s cross amazingly to put the ball past Michael Esser, the Darmstadt goalkeeper. Mor also notched up two assists in Dortmund’s recent game against HSV.
Being an exuberant attacker, Mor still needs to work on his defensive contribution, though. He made 12 tackles in the league this season, nine of them ending up as fouls. He was given a somewhat harsh red card against Hertha, when he shoved defender Sebastian Langkamp in the face, later the defender admitted that he made a meal out of the situation. Mor faced a two-game suspension for the incident.
Overall, the Turkish young man has made only two interceptions, averaging ZERO defensive contribution for his team in the five games he has played so far.
While his defensive abilities are well below par but we can all be pretty assured of the offensive talent the 19-year old possesses and hopefully, with time in his side, Mor can steadily take the development nose dive at Dortmund along with several other teenage sensations such as Christian Pulisic, Ousmane Dembele and Felix Passlack.
