Agent claims Everton beat off competition from six clubs to win race to sign Cenk Tosun

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Everton snapped up Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun last week.

Agent Ceylan Caliskan has told Turkish-Football.com that Everton fended off six Premier League rivals to sign striker Cenk Tosun last week.

The Toffees were in desperate need of a new striker having failed to replace Romelu Lukaku over the summer following his move to Manchester United, even with Dominic Calvert-Lewin performing admirably.

Everton did though make their first signing of the January transfer window on Friday, as they swooped to land Besiktas forward Cenk Tosun in a deal worth £27million according to BBC Sport.

Tosun is now in line to make his Everton debut against Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, and he should provide manager Sam Allardyce with the boost he needs in attack.

Having hit 14 goals in 24 games in all competitions this season, building on a record of 50 goals in his first three seasons with Besiktas, Turkish international Tosun has been a goalscoring sensation in recent years.

Tosun had long been linked with a move away from Besiktas off the back of his goalscoring exploits, and it’s now being revealed just how many teams wanted to sign him.

Agent Ceylan Caliskan – who worked on the deal to take Tosun to Goodison Park – has today told Turkish-Football.com that six other Premier League teams wanted to sign Tosun, with the report noting that it may even be as many as 10 rivals who pursued his signature.

However, Caliskan noted that Everton had been watching him since September, and manager Allardyce really pushed for the move to be completed after discussions with Everton’s director of football Steve Walsh.

“The first time Everton watched Cenk was on 13 September when Besiktas beat Porto 3-1,” said Caliskan. “They also watched the Finland – Turkey game and the Champions League match against Monaco. Cenk scored in each of these games but as he kept scoring interest kept increasing.”

“By this time six Premier League clubs wanted Cenk, they were regularly scouting him. Steve Walsh was first to watch Cenk, he informed Sam Allardyce who was impressed. Allardyce was really keen on the move and made sure it happened,” he added.