In a team news release this morning, the Ottawa Fury announced the signing of German striker Uğur Albayrak. The Fury were able to make the international signing due to Nicky Paterson’s season-ending surgery.
Not much is known about Albayrak, other than what is available on a few websites. Depending where you look, he’s scored between 33 and 58 goals in his career, all of them in the lower depths of the German football pyramid. Head coach Marc Dos Santos believes Albayrak fills a need for the Fury, claiming “He’s a different profile than what we already have and will be another great addition for the club.”
Ours Is The Fury co-host Jon Eden, who keeps a close eye on the German league pyramid, was cautious about the signing: “He played at a fairly low level and wasn’t able to prove himself in Bundesliga 2. He was very prolific in the fifth division and very decent in the fourth division. He only had three goals in 38 games at third division.” Asked if he thought Albayrak could perform in the NASL, he replied: “I think so. Is he gonna bang in 20 goals a season? I highly doubt it”.
The Fury are clearly gearing up for a run at the Soccer Bowl by adding depth to their forward lines. Albayrak is the second striker added to the lineup following the addition of Aly Hassan during the summer break. He joins an attacking force which already includes Tom Heinemann, Carl Haworth, Paulo Jr., Oliver Minatel, Andrew Wiedeman and the aforementioned Hassan.
Heinemann currently leads the team with four goals.
