Everton squandered their best chance to offload Cenk Tosun during the summer transfer market, having offered the Besiktas target to the Super Lig giant’s biggest rivals.
What’s the word?
According to Fotospor, Besiktas were interested in re-signing Tosun during the summer market having been offered the chance to land the forward on loan by Everton, but were left annoyed at how the Toffees conducted their business.
Everton chiefs had put forward a deal that would have seen Tosun return to Vodafone Park two-and-a-half-years on from his £27million move to Merseyside, though the Black Eagles were not convinced they should cover the 29-year-old’s £60,000-per-week contract in full.
However, while the Besiktas hierarchy discussed what sort of counter-offer they could make, Everton were putting their same offer to Galatasaray and Fenerbahce in hopes they would see value in taking Tosun on loan and covering his entire salary.
The Toffees’ plans frustrated Besiktas and no deal was ultimately secured for the 42-cap Turkey international to return to the club he scored 64 goals for in 142 appearances.
Carlo Ancelotti has since included Tosun in his 25-man squad for the Premier League season, but is yet to award the attacker any minutes across all competitions following surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament.
Tosun suffered an ACL injury during training with Crystal Palace in March after making just five appearances for the Eagles during what was scheduled to be a half-season loan spell.
Naïve mistake by Everton
Everton offering Tosun’s services to Galatasaray and Fenerbahce whilst in talks with Besiktas was a naïve mistake by Director of Football Marcel Brands, who squandered the Blues’ best chance to offload the forward for a year by burning bridges with the Vodafone Park side.
Besiktas held an interest in signing Tosun if a financial agreement could be struck with Everton, who would have benefited far more from sanctioning a temporary deal even if it meant Carlo Ancelotti’s team continuing to cover a percentage of his salary.
Tosun has never made the grade on Merseyside with just 10 goals in 51 games, five of which came during his first half-season at the club under Sam Allardyce before the 29-year-old was ushered aside to promote Dominic Calvert-Lewin into an integral starting role.
Ancelotti is also yet to award Tosun any minutes on the field since taking charge at Goodison Park, having opted to only name the Turkey international among the substitutes before his ill-fated loan spell with Palace.
Had Tosun not suffered his serious injury in training and been able to improve on his early Eagles form that featured one goal in 176 minutes, then Everton may have had more suitors lining up to sign the now £8.1m-rated forward. Instead, the Toffees’ efforts blocked his most-likely route away from Merseyside and will now be hoping that January sees an offer arrive.
AND in other news, a permanent transfer could be imminent for a £1.44m-rated Everton man after his latest comments.