Everton striker Cenk Tosun is set to be offered a way out of his Goodison Park nightmare, with Besiktas reportedly keen to secure his signature over the coming months.
What’s the story?
According to Turkish outlet FotoMac (as relayed by SportWitness), the Black Eagles have begun work to re-sign the 30-year-old after two previous spells with the club.
The report states that Besiktas manager Sergen Yalçın wants Tosun “very much,” while the club’s president Ahmet Nur Cebi has reportedly said in a statement: “We definitely want Cenk in the team.”
FotoMac also claim that the officials of the two clubs have agreed to come face to face during the upcoming international break where the terms of the transfer will be discussed during a meeting.
However, with Tosun set to become a free agent next summer, the Istanbul outfit have yet to decide whether to splash out in January and immediately secure his signature or wait an extra few months in order to avoid paying a transfer fee.
Rafa Benitez must axe him
Tosun has struggled to find his best form since arriving on English shores halfway through the 2017/18 campaign for a whopping £27m as former Everton manager Sam Allardyce looked to add a prolific target man to their attack.
The 6-foot striker had scored 41 goals in 96 Turkish Super Lig games since the start of the 2014/15 season and it was hoped that he’d be able to hit the back of the net on a regular basis following his switch to the Premier League.
Unfortunately for Tosun, though, things haven’t turned out as he had hoped during his time as a Toffees player.
Despite making a solid start – bagging five goals in 14 league games during his maiden campaign – a miserly five further strikes followed in his following 35 top-flight appearances between 2018/19 and 2019/20, with five of those outings coming during a loan spell at Crystal Palace.
His underwhelming performances led to severe criticism from certain sections of the media and fanbase alike, with Andy Gray claiming the Turkey international was “not good enough” for Everton following a disappointing display against West Ham United.
“There’s a lot of players that they have got that are out of the side. What he needs to do is get them all fit,” he told beIN SPORTS back in 2018.
“What my problem will be is I didn’t see it today. I didn’t see Tosun being good enough. We saw Oumar Niasse not good enough at this level. When I say this level, I mean the top half of the Premier League. Those boys are not good enough.”
With that in mind, one could argue that he’s even worse than new signing Salomon Rondon. He’s yet to score for the Toffees but that is mainly down to a lack of fitness. His game time would also suggest that he’s firmly in the manager’s plans, an honour that has never fallen on the shoulders of Tosun.
As a result, new Blues boss Benitez should axe the £60,000-per-week flop during the winter window, adding further funds to the Spaniard’s budget ahead of his potential rebuild on Merseyside.
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