League One’s Best Attacking Midfielder: Erhun Oztumer

Wizard Oz – bescotbanter.net

Peterborough United fans who expressed discontent at the summer sale of Erhun Oztumer have been proved right. In an attacking midfield role, the Turk has scored 14 League One goals for new club Walsall, more than any of Posh’s strikers.

One of the 14 was an injury-time derby winner against Shrewsbury back in October, which he scored directly from a corner. Two more came from the middle third of the pitch in away trips to Swindon and Bolton, in which he saw the goalkeeper off his line. As well as his aptitude for spectacular goals, Oztumer has unique creativity, deft touch and the capacity to hold onto the ball when challenged by two players twice his size.

At 5’3”, the ‘Turkish Messi’ must go down as one of the shortest players in history of the English professional game. The shortest player ever to feature in the top flight is Andy Ducros at 5’4” and he only played eight games for Coventry, before dropping into non-league.

That shows the physical disadvantages Oztumer’s height puts him at. Instead of being bullied by fellow League One footballers, he instead dominates them through technical excellence.