Dundee United striker Nadir Ciftci is looking forward to a family reunion when he arrives back in Holland.
The Turkish striker spent his formative years in the Netherlands and will return to one of his old clubs NAC Breda with the Tangerines as part of the Dutch leg of their pre-season programme.
That is an exciting prospect for Ciftci, who was on target from the penalty spot for the Tannadice men as they ended the Irish part of their summer schedule with a comfortable 4-0 win over Bohemians in Dublin on Saturday.
“Now that’s us finished in Ireland we head off to Holland next, and obviously that will be a bit special for me,” said the frontman.
As well as the game at the Sportpark De Gagelrijzen a week tomorrow, he can look forward to fixtures against Winterswijk on Friday and Utrecht on Sunday.
“I will have loads of my family there watching our games so that should be great. I will be up against my old team NAC Breda, and it is always nice to return to a former club with your new side.
“I have been speaking to a few of my ex-teammates from Breda already and there has been some laughing and joking between us already.
“I still have a lot of great friends and of course family in Holland, so I was delighted when I heard we would be going there this summer.”
Ciftci looked in the mood right from the first whistle against Bohs at Dalymount Park at the weekend.
The Tangerines took the lead on 39 minutes when the impressive Ryan Dow flicked home Ciftci’s cross from the right.
Just a couple of minutes later it was 2-0 as Dow returned the favour by earning a penalty that was converted by the Turk.
Midfielder Stuart Armstrong grabbed the third on 64 minutes, then sub Brian Graham netted another spotkick in the final minute to properly reflect the Tannadice team’s dominance.
Bohs had carved open the first chance on three minutes when Tangerines’ goalie Marc McCallum was tested by a 20-yard shot from Ryan McEvoy.
United should have taken the lead on 11 minutes when a nice exchange of passes between Dow and Ciftci ended with the former bearing down on goal but shooting just an inch or so wide of the post.
Good work by Ciftci on 18 minutes saw the Turk clip the ball away from defender Stephen Best, then fire over a cross that just couldn’t reach the inrushing Gary Mackay-Steven.
United, with teenagers Scott Smith and Scott Fraser showing up well in midfield, missed a couple of golden chances in quick succession when first Dow’s shot was deflected wide, then captain Sean Dillon rattled the upright with a strike from just a yard out following a goalmouth stramash. In an open contest, Bohs hit back with a chip from Jason Byrne that wasn’t too far away.
However, the hosts fell behind to a beautifully-crafted United goal on 39 minutes.
Once again Ciftci did well out on the right to create space for himself. When he sent the ball over, Dow was there to deftly flick it past keeper Jack Menton.
The Tangerines had to wait only a couple of minutes for their second, and it came from the spot. Dow was felled by Best in the box, and up stepped Ciftci to give the goalie no chance.
Dow was running riot and he came close again with a strike that almost made it through the wooden hoarding behind the goal, then clever play from Fraser saw him cut in before clipping the bar with a curling shot.
An unchanged side came out for the second half.
It was nearly 3-0 on 50 minutes when Dow broke clear inside the box and tried to chip keeper Menton, only for the ball to hit the bar and somehow miss Ciftci on its way down.
Mackay-Steven was next to have a go on 55 minutes as his shot was pushed around the post.
As Bohs struggled to cope with the visitors’ attacks, Dillon was unlucky to see his looping header booted off the line by home defender Dave Mulcahy.
There was some respite for the home team when Craig Walsh hit the post, but United got their third goal when Armstrong hit the target with a crisp shot on 64 minutes.
The game lost some fluency as substitutes entered the fray, but the visitors kept attacking and Charlie Telfer fired a volley over the Bohs’ bar with 10 minutes to go.
There was still time for Graham, who had come on for Ciftci, to score United’s second penalty of the day in the final minute to round things off at 4-0 after Scott Lawless had fouled Chris Erskine.
All in all, this was a more than satisfying afternoon’s work in the Irish capital for United, who play Forfar on Wednesday before jetting off to the Netherlands.
Ciftci was certainly satisfied with the work he did on the Emerald Isle.
He added: “Everything has been good for me so far in pre-season and I have been catching up again on the flicks and passes. It was nice to get a goal, but the main thing is getting my fitness right.
“My aim for next season is for United to get better and better, and I think our new players are looking good already.”
There will be no let-up for manager Jackie McNamara, meanwhile, with developments likely on the recruitment front this week.
He has a decision to make on Czech trialist Jiri Lenko, who played 90 minutes against Bohemians to add to his half-hour in Athlone last Tuesday, but fans can expect other news as well.
The United boss said: “I would like to get everything done before we go to Holland so we can concentrate on getting everyone up to match-speed as quickly as possible over there.
“I don’t want to talk about players until things happen because if it doesn’t work out you end up looking silly, but I’m hopeful.
“I thought he (Lenko) was OK and steady. He was comfortable and good in possession, so I will make a decision on him over the next few days.”