Mert Cetin has asserted that he is ready to compete for a place in Roma’s backline. “My name will be known in a couple of years.”
Little is known about Cetin outside of his native Turkey, where he is an Under-21 international and highly rated, but the former Genclerbirligi defender made it clear he was not at Roma to make up the numbers.
“Roma have always been a dream of mine,” began the 22-year-old at his official unveiling.
Mert Cetin has asserted that he is ready to compete for a place in Roma’s backline. “My name will be known in a couple of years.”
Little is known about Cetin outside of his native Turkey, where he is an Under-21 international and highly rated, but the former Genclerbirligi defender made it clear he was not at Roma to make up the numbers.
“Roma have always been a dream of mine,” began the 22-year-old at his official unveiling.
“You’ll get to know me in time, and I expect you’ll all see how good I am. I’d already talked to Cengiz.
“He told me how important a team they were. He can help me a lot with the language, even if I intend to start studying Italian soon.
“We’ll help each other a lot on and off the field. He told me about the Roma fans. I can’t wait to take to the field and be show my worth.
“The Italian League is a challenging one. It’s one of the best to improve a defender’s ability.
“Fonseca told me he wanted a lot of determination and commitment. I feel pretty strong as a central defender and I feel capable of competing with the other defenders at Roma, although I’ll need a period of adaptation.
“Sergio Ramos is my idol, but I’m Cetin and I believe my name will be known in a couple of years.
“I’m a tough and aggressive player, I can build play from the back quickly. There will be many things to improve on.
“This is a golden age for Turkish football. There are a lot of strong Turkish players in Europe.
“If you follow the national team you’ll see that this new generation is very strong and, in my opinion, will also let Turkey break out on the international scene.
“Fenerbahce and Galatasaray are the best clubs in Turkey, but one of my dreams has always been to play for a top European club.
“The Italian League allows players to improve a lot. Here I want to show who I am and how good I am.”