It's a learning experience for Deniz

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Undav reflects on his Albion debut and how getting used to his new teammates will take time.

Nick Szczepanik

2022-07-11T05:00:00Z

Denis Undav scored eight goals in his breakthrough season with Albion in 2022/23.

Albion new boy Deniz Undav plans to use the club’s pre-season programme as a learning experience as he gets to know his new surroundings and team-mates.

His first taste of match action in an Albion shirt came in the second half of the 0-0 draw with his former club, Belgium’s Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, in the opening pre-season friendly, which was played behind closed doors at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre on Saturday. But Undav has already been given an insight into how high the standards in the Premier League will be from his early experience of training under Graham Potter.

“The training sessions we have are really intense, really hard, really physical,” the German striker said. “So, I think it will be the same in games against other opponents so I will learn from them. You figure out the other guy who is playing next to you and how the team plays. It’s all about understanding on the pitch and it will come over the weeks.”

Training now moves to Portugal before further friendly games against Reading, Brentford and Espanyol in advance of the opening match of the Premier League season, away to Manchester United. Undav hopes that his performances will improve as he builds an understanding with Neal Maupay, Danny Welbeck and the other strikers.

“It was the first friendly game so we don’t know each other so well yet,” he said. “We are trying to figure each other out. Now it’s about trying to adapt to my teammates, how they play, to the intensity and that’s the goal for me. In Belgium it’s a different level to the Premier League so it’s all about adapting. It’s way more intense and the game is way faster and it’s more physical.”

His display against Union, he said, was “Not good, to be honest. I didn’t get enough balls and sometimes I lost the ball easily. But in my head the first thing was to see how my teammates are so it wasn’t so important to play now the best game of my life, but to figure out where I can fit and to see if I have the ball, when I have to keep it, play it fast or get in the box when I have the chance to score.”

After signing for the club before being loaned back to Union, he did what homework he could on his new team by watching Albion games on TV – when fixture clashes allowed. “If I could watch a game, I did but sometimes we played on the same day,” he said. “But when I had the chance, I tried to watch to see how the team plays, to see what I can do when I arrive in Brighton.”

Union fell just short of winning the Belgian league title, despite the efforts of Undav and fellow Albion loanees Kaoru Mitoma and Kacper Kozlowski.

“Mitoma is a fast guy on the side who can dribble against one or two guys and win duels so we can expect a lot from him,” Undav said. “Kacper, like me, has to adapt to the team and hopefully we will see the best Kacper he can be.

“Me? I did my best and tried to give my old team everything I had got and I will try to give the same qualities I had to Brighton and my teammates here. A lot of goals, fun and good moments!”