U21 Radar — Sept 21-27: 5 Foreign Prospects for Turkish Clubs

This week’s GegenSports U21 Radar puts five foreign prospects under the microscope. The filter stays the same every week. Age 21 or under, contract status that can be verified from public sources, and a transfer fee or wage level that actually matches the economic reality of the lower half of the Süper Lig and the whole of the 1.Lig. No academy graduates from Europe’s five biggest leagues carrying eight figure price tags here. This week the geography runs from Moldova to Bosnia and Herzegovina, from Bolivia to North Macedonia and Paraguay, all realistically buyable profiles. If you missed last week’s edition, check out U21 Radar — Sept 14-20. The series scans five or six new names every week and does not repeat a full profile for a player already covered.

1) Artiom Dijinari — Centre-back, 20, Dacia Buiucani

Dijinari came up through the academy of Sheriff Tiraspol, Moldova’s best known club, and was part of the squad during one of its title-winning spells while still a teenager. He now continues his career at Dacia Buiucani and is a regular for Moldova’s U21 side in EURO U21 qualifying, usually playing the full 90 minutes. That is a decent sign of physical and tactical reliability at international level. Fotmob’s own comparison tools rank him above most of his positional peers in the league in terms of goal contributions.

Style of play: Moldova’s Super Liga is not the fastest league around, but it punishes sloppy passing, and Dijinari has developed into a classic centre-back within it. He wins his individual duels, competes well in the air at set pieces, and his full 90-minute international shifts point to solid physical stamina and sustained concentration.

Fit for a Turkish club: A low market value combined with an undisclosed contract situation makes him the kind of low-risk trial signing a mid-table 1.Lig side or a budget-conscious Süper Lig club could realistically pursue. Clubs hunting for a centre-back from the Balkan-Eastern European pipeline on a similar budget might find a useful reference point in our earlier Roko Gabrić scout report (TR). He could be tried either in a back-three set-up or in a system that demands quick recovery after an aggressive press.

2) Muamer Hamzić — Defensive Midfielder, 21, NK Travnik / FK Sarajevo

Hamzić’s career is a textbook case of the loan circuit. Product of the Sarajevo academy, he has been farmed out to NK Čelik Zenica, FK Radnik Hadžići and FK Tekstilac Derventa in succession, racking up 71 official appearances along the way. He was part of Sarajevo’s squad when the club won the Bosnian Cup in 2024-25, and he has earned five caps for the Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 side. This is not a headline stat sheet. The real story is that a club keeps repeatedly loaning out a player it has just tied down until 2028, which usually means it still sees him as a medium-term asset.

Style of play: Hamzić developed in the physical, duel-heavy football of Bosnia’s lower divisions, and it shows in a profile built around recovery speed and space coverage rather than creativity. His role is defend first, then move the ball on with simple, low-risk passes. A number six who prioritises discipline over flair.

Fit for a Turkish club: The length of his contract and his low profile make him less of an immediate midfield fix and more of a name for a 1.Lig club that wants rotation depth and is comfortable working the cheap loan and option route through the Balkans. As we noted when covering Elvir Gashijani’s move from Kosovo to Bodrum FK in our GP Radar report (TR), Turkish clubs leaning on cheap loan and option deals out of the Balkan leagues has been a growing pattern lately, and Hamzić fits that trend as a defensive-minded six.

3) Lucas Macazaga — Right-back, 20, Ponferradina / Leganés

Macazaga is Bolivian by nationality but was born in Madrid, and he came up through the youth systems of Getafe, Alcorcón and Leganés before contributing 20 appearances and 3 goal involvements for Leganés B in the fifth-tier Tercera Federación, a striking output for a full-back. For 2026-27 he has been loaned up to Spain’s Segunda División with Ponferradina, a sign that his parent club wants to see him tested a level higher. Already five caps into his Bolivia senior career at just 20 years old, he carries an unusually strong international résumé for his age.

Style of play: Physically strong at 1.83m, with a high work rate going forward and a willingness to cut inside and shoot rather than just cross, Macazaga is a modern full-back whose attacking output suggests he prioritises offensive contribution over pure defensive discipline. In effect he can be used almost like a wide attacker who happens to play right-back.

Fit for a Turkish club: His Bolivia caps and his year in the Spanish second tier make him an interesting name both for 1.Lig play-off hopefuls and for mid-table Süper Lig sides looking for extra attacking output from the right-back slot. Leganés’s willingness to loan him out signals that a low-cost loan approach could actually land, which lines up well with the 1.Lig’s budget reality.

4) Adrian Zendelovski — Central Midfielder, 21, FC Struga

Zendelovski’s path has taken him around Europe. Raised in the Malmö FF academy from age five, he captained Malmö’s U19 side in 2023 and even had a trial at Genoa in January 2022. His professional career actually started in Sweden’s lower tiers with Skövde AIK and BK Olympic, where a 2025 campaign of 20 appearances and 5 goal contributions caught the eye before his January 2026 move to North Macedonia’s FC Struga. He has 13 caps for the North Macedonia U21 side.

Style of play: Shaped by the physical but possession-minded lower leagues of Sweden, Zendelovski projects as a box-to-box type who gets forward and contributes directly to goals and assists. His five-goal season at BK Olympic suggests a midfielder who gets into the box rather than one who only mops up in front of the back line.

Fit for a Turkish club: A contract signed as recently as this year through 2029 makes an immediate move unlikely, but he is exactly the kind of name a 1.Lig club looking for a cheap long-term midfield investment, or a Süper Lig side building around younger squads, would want on the watchlist. Given the growing interest Süper Lig clubs have shown in players coming out of Scandinavia’s lower divisions, this is a profile that could resurface down the line.

5) Tiago Caballero — Centre-forward, 21, Olimpia

Caballero moved to Olimpia in July 2025 after making his professional debut at Nacional, one of Paraguayan football’s most storied clubs, and signed a lengthy four-year contract there. That kind of commitment from a club to a young centre-forward signals both trust and heavy expectation. Wearing the number 21 shirt, he has established himself as a regular part of the rotation at the top level of Paraguayan football.

Style of play: A physically balanced number nine at 1.80m, Caballero looks for finishes inside the box and makes runs in behind the back line, close to the classic centre-forward mould. South American leagues’ physical, duel-heavy style is a reasonable proving ground for that kind of striker before any move to Europe.

Fit for a Turkish club: Mid-budget South American forwards remain a well-worn route into both the Süper Lig and the 1.Lig. As we covered when Gençlerbirliği signed Portuguese forward Pedro Mendes in our GP Radar report (TR), mid-sized clubs keep investing in this kind of finisher. Caballero’s newly signed four-year deal with Olimpia rules out anything short-term, but he earns his place on the list as one to track for future windows.

Radar Update: Luca Băsceanu

One name we’re not writing a full profile on this week, but not dropping from the radar either. We covered Universitatea Craiova’s left winger and attacking midfielder Luca Băsceanu in our 1-7 September U21 Radar (TR), and here’s the update. He remains in his role at Craiova and picked up league, cup and super cup medals with the club along the way, but no concrete Turkish connection or fresh transfer signal has surfaced publicly since. Rather than repeat the full profile, we filled the fifth slot on this week’s list with a new name, Tiago Caballero.

Overall Assessment

This week’s radar spreads across positions with a centre-back (Dijinari), a defensive midfielder (Hamzić), a right-back (Macazaga), a central midfielder (Zendelovski) and a centre-forward (Caballero). The common thread is clear. None of them play in Europe’s five major leagues, their market values are either very low or simply undisclosed, and every one of them could realistically move through a loan structure or a modest transfer fee. Geographically this week leans on Eastern Europe through Moldova, the Balkans through Bosnia and North Macedonia, and South America through Bolivia and Paraguay, a spread consistent with where our scouting desk has been focused in recent weeks. Readers interested in young Balkan defenders can also check our earlier Raul Kumar scout report (TR).

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