Everton could be about to make a massive loss on Cenk Tosun in the January transfer window with Besiktas keen to bring the Premier League misfit back to Turkey, as reported by Takvim.
It’s fair to say Sam Allardyce’s comments, after completing a deal to sign Tosun nearly four years ago, have aged less like a bottle of fine wine and more like a carton of milk left out in the July sun.
“We looked at the qualities of the player, his talent and goalscoring, and his resilience, too,” Allardyce said during his short-lived and ill-fated spell in the Goodison Park dugout (IB Times).
“I do not think you can look any more than we have done and, for the price, he is the best in Europe at the moment.”
The key part of that sentence, however, is the final three words; ‘at the moment’.
Because, back then, Tosun certainly looked like a striker with Premier League pedigree. The Turkey international had fired Besiktas to the Super Lig title with a career-best 24 goals a few months earlier.
And, in the first half of the 2017/18 season, he found the net four times in just six Champions League group-stage games.
Almost from the first minute, however, it became painfully apart that Tosun would not be able to emulate his prolific Super Lig form against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and co.
Has Cenk Tosun played his last game for Everton?
Four years on, Tosun’s personal tally stands at 23 Premier League starts and just nine goals.
And with his contract due to expire in July, any hopes that Everton might have had of recouping a sizeable chunk of their £27 million investment went up in smoke a long time ago.
Takvim believe that Everton are demanding just £1.7 million in January. Besiktas are only willing to fork over £1.3 million, however, with talks expected to continue this week.
When you consider that Everton look set to make a loss in the region of £25 million, the difference between £1.7 million and £1.3 million feels rather moot.
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