Besiktas coach Senol Gunes admits he ‘wanted’ to sign Lyanco from Southampton before a move away from the Championship outfit collapsed with former Liverpool ace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain now a target for the Turkish outfit.
Swings and rounadoubts, as they say.
While Besiktas succeeded in their attempts to bring in Daniel Amartey following his departure from Leicester City, the Turkish Super Lig giants were not quite as successful in their pursuit of another recently-relegated centre-half.
Lyanco flew to Istanbul last week, and even professed his excitement about joining the Besiktas project. That was, however, until Besiktas attempted to alter the deal at the eleventh hour, leading to Southampton pulling out of discussions (Daily Echo).
“We wanted Lyanco and another defender. Lyanco was ahead of Amartey, but wManage finally got Amartey and (Lens’ Jean) Onana,” explains Gunes, having landed one while missing out on the other of his top two defensive targets.
Lyanco stuck at Southampton after Besiktas collapse
Lyanco’s father and agent admitted two months ago that the £7 million Brazilian was open to the idea of leaving St Mary’s. But he now finds himself back to square one after Besiktas’ pursuit went the same way as Vasco da Gama’s.
Southampton rejected a £4.2 million bid from Vasco earlier in the summer.
Gunes, meanwhile, is now turning his attention to bringing in ‘an offensive midfielder’. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, released by Liverpool upon the expiry of his contract, could be the latest Premier League expat to arrive in a competition chock-full of familiar faces.
Edin Dzeko, Mislav Orsic, Angelino, Wilfried Zaha, Dusan Tadic and Mehdi Abeid have all joined Turkish clubs this summer.
“We are looking for an offensive midfielder,” Gunes adds. “It would be much better if he could also play as a winger. We will get players that we can use in all three positions in attack.
“There’s (Matias) Vargas, Oxlade Chamberlain, and (Roberto) Pereyra.”
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