“My hero when I was growing up was Zinédine Zidane. When you watch him, it’s almost like seeing a really good film. You get a sense of thrill, expectation and anticipation. You always wanted to know what was going to happen next.” — Tuncay Sanli

To continue the cinematic theme, watching Middlesbrough’s Turkey striker summons up memories of the scene in Kes, where Mr Sugden, the half-deranged PE teacher, simultaneously referees, stars in and commentates on a school-field football match. As he dribbles past several awestruck, if faintly bemused, children before lobbing the goalkeeper, Tuncay struggled to smother his own sense of mischief.

If medals were awarded for effervescence, the 26-year-old would have few rivals for decoration. At a recent event to promote healthy living at the club’s community centre involving Garmin, the Middlesbrough kit sponsor, Tuncay was breathless and dripping with perspiration; he is not on Teesside to see out his contract.

The difference between Tuncay and Brian Glover’s appalling, mesmeric character is a wide grin and wholesome motives. In keeping with most of his team-mates, he has thrust himself into the local initiatives that are part of Middlesbrough’s identity.

This one was held in South Bank, where Wilf Mannion grew up, an area of genuine deprivation. “There are lots of similarities between my home and Middlesbrough,” Tuncay, who originates from Sakarya in Turkey, said. “There are poor parts of Middlesbrough, but I was a poor boy myself. I know what it’s like to come from a family which has to work hard to get by. I feel at home in this environment. It’s where football is most important.”

The message and its tone were uplifting, along with the dynamism that Tuncay has brought to Gareth Southgate’s team, who face Arsenal at home today, since his free transfer from Fenerbahçe in the summer of 2007. Nicknamed Cesur Yurek — Braveheart — at his former club, he has grown in influence at the Riverside Stadium; Chelsea have been linked with an £8 million bid.

“I live life with a smile on my face,” he said. “What else can you do? If you don’t smile, you’re bound to get distressed. You have to see good things in life. Otherwise, what’s the point of being here? I don’t have time for being sad. It doesn’t matter what country you’re in — a little smile can make a lot of difference.”

It almost passed him by. “My career started by mistake, because I didn’t have a background of playing in youth teams,” he said. “I was an ordinary kid who played in the streets. If I hadn’t been seen by an amateur coach in an indoor match I would probably have started a job the following year and never played again. It was that close.

“It’s still very difficult for a young boy in Turkey to get the opportunity to make it and I never really realised I was good enough to be spotted. You never think that way when you are little, but maybe that made me even more determined to make it when the opportunity arose. By that stage, I knew it was my only chance.”

His parents wavered. “They wanted me to stay at school, get qualifications, learn a trade,” Tuncay said. “They wanted the best for me, but it took some nagging before they relented.”

What other profession might have beckoned? “Maybe I would have become a runner. It’s the only thing I’m good at. I was always bound to run somewhere.” But he is happy to have come to rest at Middlesbrough. “I have seen quite a bit of the area,” he said. “I’ve been to Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds. I like Hartlepool Marina. There’s a nice Turkish restaurant in Redcar and I’ve taken my family there when they’ve come over. The people who run it have been here for 16 years and are good people.

“I can’t get over how punctual the English are. I’ve never known anyone be late. Even taxi drivers. If you call a taxi and they say, ‘I’ll be there in ten minutes’, they’ll be there. That doesn’t happen in Turkey.”

Free time is spent keeping track of Turkish football on satellite television, while “DVD box sets — 24, Prison Break — have been brilliant for me. Sometimes I spend half a day watching one.” Christmas will be enlivened by the visit of his two sisters and their children. “My biggest aim is to be able to compete in European football as a Middlesbrough player,” he said. If he achieves his goal, he will certainly have a smile on his face.