Official: Roma Signs Cengiz Under

Admit it, you didn’t know who Cengiz Under was two weeks ago. I’m not afraid to admit I hadn’t an inkling he even existed, let alone that he was a football player being pursued by Manchester City, and yet here we are, Roma and Monchi have landed one of the more intriguing attacking prospects in the game, thanks to Monchi’s mastery of the Turkish tongue and a shot at actual first team playing time.

While the ensuing weeks and months will dictate the extent to which Under ingrains himself in Eusebio Di Francesco’s plans, today was all about welcoming Under to the fold, something the club’s social media team did with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek.

Seriously, whoever did this, stand up and take a bow. In welcoming Under to Roma, the club totally took the piss out of all the so called “scouting” videos we see seemingly everywhere on YouTube, replete with the shitty watermarks and horrific club music. This was so brilliant, especially given Under’s relative anonymity prior to making the Roma switch. I know we criticize the club for a lot of things, but their social media game is on point.

Anyway, back to the actual move. Under comes to Roma on an initial €13.4 million transfer, with a further €1.4 million in potential bonuses, signing a contract through 2022. Under will wear the vaunted #17 for Roma, a shirt that once had the pleasure of draping across John Arne Riise’s magnificent shoulders.

Upon signing with the club, Under expressed his pleasure with the move, citing Monchi and the chance to play in the Champions League as contributing factors to making the jump to Serie A. You can read his first interview here, but the club asked Under the question that’s been persed on our confused lips since this rumor first surfaced earlier in the week.