Galatasaray have been advised not to sell Kerem Akturkoglu for less than £30 million as Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal target the jet-heeled winger, as reported by CNN Turk.
Xavi Hernandez certainly wasn’t taking Akturkoglu’s threat lightly as Barcelona went head-to-head with Galatasaray in the Europa League round-of-16 last month.
“I would like to draw attention to Kerem in particular. He is a very fast player,” said Xavi, who’s Barcelona side eventually prevailed 2-1 in Turkey thanks to strikes from Pedri and an in-form Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Goal).
“(Akturkoglu) is one of the best players at Galatasaray. We took good precautions against him.
“Kerem has interesting talents. He is very good one on one. He gave everything in two matches, but I think we analysed Galatasaray well. We gave him less opportunities.”
Not many sides have managed to do what Barcelona did, however, and keep Akturkoglu quiet. The Turkey international has 11 goals and nine assists this season. His electrifying form remains a ray of light in an otherwise cloudy Galatasaray sky.
The Istanbul giants are currently 15th in the table. This is shaping up to be their worst season since the Super Lig began over a century ago.
And, with some well-publicised financial issues causing further headache, it would be a major surprise if Akturkoglu was still a Galatasaray player in 2022/23. According to Aksam, Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur want him.
So do an Arsenal side who have made a habit recently of signing talented, up-and-coming, technically-gifted youngsters like the 22-year-old Turk.
Which North London club will Kerem join?
Galatasaray have already rejected a £12 million from Wolfsburg. And former Lille director Luis Campos, who recently acted as an adviser to Galatasaray, has warned the club to demand a far larger fee for a player of such ‘huge potential’.
“The potential in Kerem is huge,” says Campos, the brains behind Lille’s 2021 Ligue 1-winning machine. “Do not deal with figures below 35 million euros.”
Whatever the fee, Akturkoglu looks certain to replace one-time Stoke City flop Badou Ndiaye as the most expensive export in Galatasaray’s history.
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