Mervan Celik

West Ham are poised to make a move for Swedish winger Mervan Celik.

Sam Allardyce is desperate to strengthen his squad after being hit by an injury crisis at a crucial stage of the season.

David Bentley has been ruled out for six months while Henri Lansbury will also be missing until Christmas.

With Matt Taylor also being sidelined with a calf injury, Allardyce has been short of players in the wide areas and is hoping Celik could be a welcome addition to the squad.

Celik, 21, plays for GAIS in the Swedish League and has scored an impressive 14 goals in 27 games this season.

The Swedish Under-21 international, whose contract runs out in December, has also been linked with Fulham and Middlesbrough, but the east London club appear to be the strong favourites to clinch his signature.


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Hmmm think we need a CB more. In the clips he looks better in a central position than as a winger, some good goals but at what level is the swedish league?

Göteborgs Atlet- och Idrottssällskap (en: Gothenburg Athletics & Sports Association) is a Swedish football club based in Gothenburg, currently playing in Allsvenskan. The club is commonly referred to simply as GAIS, while its fans also refers to the club as grönsvart (green-black) or the mackerels because of the traditional shirt colours. Its home ground is Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg.

GAIS is one of the oldest football clubs in Sweden. The club was a founding member of Allsvenskan and also the first champions of said league. In all, GAIS has won four national championship titles, five league championship titles and one national cup title. Although GAIS has played a total of 49 seasons in Allsvenskan, in the 30 years from 1976 to 2005 it played only six seasons in the top division, and also six seasons as low as the third division. The club thus gained the reputation of being a yo yo club, constantly going up and down through the league system. After the promotion to Allsvenskan in 2005, the club has played six straight seasons in Allsvenskan. A feat not achieved since the degradation in 1955.

Allsvenskan is the top div in Sweden

Born in Gothenburg,[3] he played for IF Warta and BK Häcken at youth level before joining GAIS in 2007.[4] "I started as a striker but now I play as an inner midfielder and winger. It does not matter if I play on the right or the left, both positions w**k for me," he said in an interview on the club's website.[4] Celik made his competitive debut against GIF Sundsvall in the Allsvenskan on 20 July 2008,[2][4] and appeared in the starting eleven for the first time six weeks later against IFK Göteborg.[5] He signed new three-year contract in May 2009,[4] and scored his first goal for the club later that year against Kalmar FF.[2]
International career

Celik has represented Sweden at youth level.[3] He made his under-21 debut against Norway on 2 June 2011 and scored two of the goals in a 4–1 win.[6] He is eligible to play for Turkey through his parents.[4]

Never even heard of him

You have now