Cenk Tosun’s outrageous Besiktas form adds insult to injury for Everton

Follow us on Google Discover

Despite turning 31, and with a couple of series injuries in his past, there was never any doubt that Cenk Tosun would prove to be a major asset to Besiktas after returning for a third spell at the Turkish giants. 

And Tosun, who fired Besiktas to successive Super Lig titles in 2016 and 2017 before that £27 million move to Everton, is not shying away from the challenge laid down upon him by Wout Weghorst’s shock January departure to Manchester United. 

His most recent strike – coming in Besiktas’ 1-1 draw at Fatih Karagumruk – was his 12^th since returning to Turkey. A tally which looks all the more impressive when you consider that Tosun has only started 11 games in all competitions. 

“Cenk has advantages as well as shortcomings. Talented players do not lose this (ability),” coach Senol Gunes told NTV Spor after Tosun’s brace in the 3-0 thumping of Alanyaspor. 

“This is a player suitable for scoring goals.” 

Former Everton striker Cenk Tosun shining back home at Besiktas

That, however, is not a conclusion many Everton fans would draw from Tosun’s forgettable four-year spell at Goodison Park. A mega-money signing by Sam Allardyce in January 2018, Tosun managed just 11 in 61 games. 

But, as ever, context is required. Tosun was never really given a run of starts on Merseyside, missed around six months with the cruciate ligament injury, and then had to contend with the emergence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

“I didn’t have trouble (adapting) in England because my English was good. It is a country similar to Germany, there were not many difficulties,” the former Eintracht Frankfurt poacher tells A Spor, determined to take the positives out of an Everton career spent largely on the substitute’s bench. 

“I cannot say I wish I had not gone to England. My dream was the Premier League. Maybe it was not the right league. It would have been different if I went to Spain.

“But my childhood dream was the Premier League. I had successful periods, and I had injuries. I had good experiences in four-and-a-half years. If we turned back the clock, I would go again.”