Fog on the Bosphorus

Newcastle manager Graeme Souness has made no secret of his desire to sign Turkish midfield dynamo Emre Belezoglu, so it must be something of a relief to finally secure the signature of the former Internazionale player.

The fiery Turk turned down the chance of an emotional return to his homeland with Fenerbahce for a chance to play for Souness, and the Scottish tactician has predicted Emre will be a huge success at St James's Park.

Newcastle fans looking for goals may be disappointed, however, as Emre has not scored a league goal for more than two seasons. He only scored three goals in total for Inter, all of them coming in the 2002-03 season, arguably his best in Italy.

 

Emre	2004/05	2003/04	2002/03
Appearances	19	21	25
Starts	12	15	22
Time Played	1,028	1,368	1,971
Goal Attempts	 	 	 
Goals	0	0	3
Shooting Accuracy	33%	47%	44%
Chance Conversion	0%	0%	17%
Passing	 	 	 
Goal Assists	1	2	2
Total Passes	694	954	1297
Pass Completion %	87%	79%	81%
Tackling	 	 	 
Tackles Made	52	44	88
Tackles Won %	56%	73%	69%
Discipline	 	 	 
Fouls	30	39	59
Yellow Cards	4	5	4
Red Cards	0	1	0

His total of five assists in two seasons is also not that impressive, especially for a player once nicknamed the 'Maradona of the Bosphorus'. Of course, Emre has struggled to hold down a regular starting place in recent months, a factor which always makes it harder to contribute positively.

That said, goalscoring remains a problem for Newcastle. Their total of 47 strikes in 2004-05 was their third lowest in Premiership history and with the departures of Craig Bellamy, Patrick Kluivert, Darren Ambrose, Laurent Robert and Andy O'Brien (responsible for 21 of last season's goals), Souness will need his new signings to take up the slack.

Emre remains one of the brightest midfield talents in Europe, and his partnership with Scott Parker could herald a new dawn for Newcastle. However, fans will still be hoping for more new faces at the club before August 13, as the Souness revolution is conspicuously short on numbers at present.