Jury still out as Ciftcitriestodo Well in loan spell

WHEN Nadir Ciftci sealed his loan deal at Motherwell, he immediately set his sights on helping the Fir Park side reach another cup final.

It seemed a bold statement to target a big day at Hampden, considering how badly he has flopped since his dream move to Celtic turned sour.

Well have finally landed the striker after moves collapsed late on in the last two transfer windows.

And the signing represents a big gamble for the Steelmen.

After a superb start to the campaign which saw Steve Robinson’s men reach the Betfred Cup Final, the wheels appear to have come off.

Motherwell were in freefall before the winter break, going eight games without a Premiership win.

They took just two points from 24 and slumped to eighth in the table – just four points above Partick in the relegation play-off spot.

An injury to top scorer Louis Moult didn’t help – but he won’t be around when the season resumes after moving to Preston.

That has forced Robinson to add to his firepower but is Ciftci what Motherwell need right now?

The Turkish striker first rose to prominence in Scottish football when he bagged 33 goals in 73 appearances for Dundee United.

But since his switch to Celtic in 2015, Ciftci has seen his career stall.

Disastrous loan spells at Eskisehirspor, Pogon Szczecin and Plymouth have yielded a pitiful four goals in 20 appearances.

And Ciftci failed to net in six matches for the Pilgrims when they were in the third tier of English football.

That may lead many to question the wisdom of Motherwell recruiting a non-scoring centreforward at this stage of the season.

But the striker is still only 25 and will be desperate to get back to the kind of form he showed at Tannadice. Ciftci was given free reign under Jackie McNamara to score goals at United which he duly did, helping them to reach the 2014 Scottish Cup Final.

However, he had a suspect temperament and often landed in hot water with officials.

Ciftci will know what it feels like to score at Fir Park as one of his four goals for Celtic was the winner in a 1-0 win in Lanarkshire back in October 2015.

And he will be hoping to hit the net regularly there as he bids to fill the huge void left by Moult’s departure.

King Louis was the fulcrum of the Motherwell team.

His 50 goals in 98 appearances were a testament to how hard he worked at a club which he learned to

Ciftci will hope to hit the net regularly to fill the void left by Moult

call home. When he signed on Tuesday night, Ciftci admitted he got a warm welcome at the club and said: “I felt like I’m home already and that gives me a good feeling.”

Moving to Motherwell turned out to be the making of Moult.

Will Ciftci’s arrival at Fir Park have a similar effect and herald the hitman’s own rebirth?

One cynic on Twitter has his doubts and said: “Swaps Ciftci for Nadir on back of shirt. Presumably to reflect career reaching its lowest ebb.”

Robinson and Motherwell will hope that statement doesn’t prove to be accurate.

You get the impression that Ciftci – like Moult before him – is a bit of a lost soul seeking to find his own spiritual home.