Besiktas have agreed personal terms with Burnley striker Wout Weghorst in a deal that could have implications for Premier League newcomers Nottingham Forest, the Turkish club’s president tells TRT Spor.
With the Qatar World Cup just a few months away, Weghorst is under no illusions.
His place in the Dutch national team is hardly a secure, after all, and he knows full well that half a season in the Championship – coupled with Vincent Janssen’s return to European soil – could scupper his chances of securing a seat on the Oranje plane.
“We have clearly agreed in advance that I will not play in the Championship,” the former Wolfsburg talisman tells Voetbal International.
“The club would like to keep me. (Burnley) will do everything they can to return to the Premier League as soon as possible. (But) it is important that I can perform at a high level, with a view to the World Cup in Qatar.”
Wout Weghorst could leave Burnley for Besiktas
Whether Weghorst views Besiktas as a club of the requisite ‘level’ remains to be seen. The Turkish giants have ‘shaken hands with Weghorst economically’, but the 6ft 6ins centre-forward is yet to decide on whether or not he wants to join a club who missed out on European qualification last season.
“We have shaken hands with Weghorst economically,” says president Ahmet Nur Cebi. “But we have not received a positive answer from him yet.
“He has a family and offers that he is waiting for. We told him yesterday (Sunday) that we were interested in other players. We conveyed that we have alternatives.”
When pressed further on those ‘alternatives’, Cebi confirmed Besiktas’ interest in former Crystal Palace flop Alexander Sorloth. Now at RB Leipzig, the Norwegian targetman scored 33 times during an outstanding loan spell at Trabzonspor in 2019/20.
Meanwhile, back at Burnley, KV Mechelen’s Makhtar Gueye could be Weghorst’s successor.
But where do Nottingham Forest come in?
Well, the two-time European champions are reportedly keen on Besiktas’ free-scoring Canada international Cyle Larin. Larin is out of contract this summer and Besiktas’ desire to sign Weghorst is the biggest indication yet that they are preparing for life without a man who was once tipped for greatness by former Orlando City team-mate – and 2007 Ballon D’Or winner – Kaka.
Nottingham Forest will make Union Berlin’s Taiwo Awoniyi their first summer signing. The departure of Keinan Davis and the uncertainty surrounding Lewis Grabban, however, means there is room for another centre-forward.
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