Cast your mind back two years ago. Borussia
Dortmund were beginning to run away with the Bundesliga title and Nuri Sahin
was one of their key architects. Alongside current Manchester United midfielder
Shinji Kagawa, Borussia Dortmund possessed one of Europe's most fearsome
midfields. After helping Dortmund to secure their seventh German league title,
Sahin left Germany to realise his dream move to the mighty Real Madrid. And
then it all went downhill...
I for one, felt Sahin would adapt quickly
to La Liga's more pass based style of football and that he would soon develop
his skills to become the very best he could be with the side from the Spanish
capital. After all, the likes of Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira had both made the
switch from Bundesliga to Real Madrid in La Liga with success.
Sadly for Sahin, his potential to succeed
at Madrid took an early blow. An ongoing injury led to Sahin having to wait
until early November to make his debut for his new club, and with Madrid's
midfield that regularly included Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Mesut Özil, Angel
Di Maria, Jose Callejon and of course Cristiano Ronaldo, it would always be an
uphill task for Sahin if he wanted to become an established member of the first
team. After some not particularly impressive performances, Sahin finally scored
his first goal for Madrid in December, against SD Ponferradina in the copa del
rey, a goal which many expected to kick start some form. Unfortunately for
Sahin, he never could shake off his various niggling injuries and he ended the
2011-12 season with a measly ten appearances.
It seemed inevitable that Sahin would be
spending the 2012-13 season at a different club, and that different club turned
out to be Liverpool on loan. After a decent start to life at the Anfield club
that included two goals away at West Bromwich Albion in the capital one cup,
Sahin slowly grew further and further out of favour under manager Brendan
Rodgers. The final straw in my mind was Sahin's lack of involvement over the
Christmas period and against lowly Mansfield town in the FA cup. At Real Madrid
he had Mesut Özil, Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso (amongst others) in front of
him in the pecking order, at Liverpool he had Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey and
Joe Allen (again amongst others) in front of him.
Things are now looking up for Sahin. His
move to Borussia Dortmund may well have rejuvenated his career, and being back
at Signal Iduna Park could offer something extra to Dortmund's ailing
Bundesliga title campaign, which looks to have Bayern Munich's name on it
already. In my opinion, Dortmund need more depth and organisation in central
midfield and Sahin could provide that, as long he can replicate the confidence
and desire he showed while in his previous stint with the German club. Mario
Götze has done a fantastic job of creating chances for star striker Robert
Lewandowski and left winger Marco Reus. The addition of Sahin will only add to
Dortmund's midfield options but I can't see him being able to overtake the
electrifying Mario Götze. Ultimately, I believe Sahin's potential success at
Dortmund relies on him being able to get in the right mindset. If he forgets
his issues of his time in both Madrid and Liverpool, he could well yet become
one of Europe's most exciting players again.
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