Derby County target Serdar Dursun has become the first Turkish player to finish as a top goal scorer in a foreign league following his impressive campaign at Darmstadt.
The German-born striker scored an incredible 27 goals for Darmstadt this past season.
Dursun collected the Bundesliga II golden boot award, and his exceptional run of 15 goals in his last ten league appearances rivals that of any other leading striker in Europe.
Despite being born in Hamburg, Dursun is of Turkish descent and as such he has become the first Turkish player to lead the goal scoring charts in a foreign league.
“I am proud to be the first Turkish football player to be a top scorer abroad,” the striker explained after hitting 27 goals in 33 games, quoted by Turkish editorial Salom.
Derby reportedly wanted Dursun last summer as a replacement for Chris Martin, with Bild claiming the Rams offered £900,000 to sign him ahead of the 2020-21 campaign.
Darmstadt, however, rejected the offer with Derby unwilling to go higher.
The Athletic report that Derby didn’t think they needed to rush a deal for Dursun and could wait until January to sign him on the cheap inside the final months of his contract.
But the situation has drastically changed since then.
Derby were the lowest goal scorers in the Championship last term. The lack of firepower upfront played a major part in Phillip Cocu losing his job as manager after just 11 games.
The Rams ultimately survived on the final day of the season. However, things could have been much different had the club pushed through a deal for Dursun last summer.
The striker’s stock is at an all-time high as his contract expires next month. Derby have certainly missed their opportunity, with clubs of bigger stature now keen on him.
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