San Jose Earthquakes welcome Turkish striker Sercan Güvenışık on trial

With Chris Wondolowski away from the team for the next month, the San Jose Earthquakes will need to find a capable replacement in the starting XI for the team’s leading scorer. The early favorite to partner with Steven Lenhart at the top of the Quakes 4-4-2 formation is Ellis McLoughlin, with veteran forward Scott Sealy next in line. Both players are suffering from nagging injuries that may limit their minutes, so likely they will split the playing time available until Wondolowski returns to San Jose at the end on June.

Always on the hunt for new talent, head coach Frank Yallop and general manager John Doyle have invited German-born Turkish striker Sercan Güvenışık to trial with the team this week. He began training with the club on Tuesday and is expected to stay in San Jose through the weekend. Güvenışık is eager to join Major League Soccer and is reportedly funding his time in the U.S. while attempting to entice a team to sign him to a contract. He is currently under contract to Preussen Münster of the third division of the German Bundesliga, but with the club’s blessing is looking for a transfer to MLS.

The 31-year old striker scored the only goal of the second half during a short-field scrimmage at San Jose Earthquakes training on Tuesday. Playing in partnership with Matt Luzunaris, Güvenışık often tiptoed the offside line of the back four in an effort to find space between defenders. After edging Burling on an offside trap and outracing the defender toward a 1 v. 1 with the goalkeeper, he scored easily with a left-footed finish. Coach Yallop was pleased to have Güvenışık in for a trail, as he was impressed by the video he has seen of his play in Germany and Turkey.

“He wanted to come in for a look, and it was no cost to us to have him in, so we agreed,” said Yallop. “He looked good today and we’ll see how he does the rest of the week. We are always looking and trying to improve the team. So any chance you get to look at a guy like Sercan (Güvenışık) you have to.”