By Steve Bruce’s own admission, Okay Yokuslu ship looked to have ‘sailed’ off into the sunset as far as a potential return to West Bromwich Albion was concerned.
“He was a very good player,” the Baggies boss told the Express and Star at the beginning of the month. “If I’m being brutally honest I think that ship might have sailed.”
Bruce will have been as surprised as anyone at the Hawthorns, then, to learn that Yokuslu – who made a big impression on loan during the second half of 2020/21 – could be on his way back to familiar surroundings after all. Less than two weeks after the former Newcastle coach attempted to dampen the speculation, Bruce is now swapping a bucket of cold water for a can full of petrol.
“We have got a chance,” he said, fanning the flames (Birmingham Mail). “I don’t want to alert anyone else, but we have got a chance.
“We will see where that takes us over the next couple of days. He’s a quality player, an international footballer, who was very successful when he was here a couple of years ago. I was very impressed with him when I saw him play in the Premier League.
“He’s a top pro, people at the club enjoyed working with him. He’s experienced. He will be a very, very, good player if we can get him.”
Is Okay Yokuslu on his way back to West Brom?
It is too early to suggest that Bruce can swap that ‘if’ for ‘when’. But the stars certainly seem to be aligning as West Brom look to strike a deal for an all-action, all-round number six who would walk into most Championship XIs without breaking sweat.
Yokuslu had his contract at La Liga outfit Celta Vigo torn up a fortnight ago. And while Galatasaray reportedly held talks with the free-agent, West Brom have been given a timely leg-up by a very unlikely source; None other than Paris Saint-Germain.
Idrissa Gana Gueye, alongside Gini Wijnaldum, Mauro Icardi, Layvin Kurzawa and co, will be left in France as PSG jet out to Japan for a pre-season tour of the Far East. The Ligue 1 champions are desperate to get the former Aston Villa and Everton enforcer off their books.
And, according to FootMercato, PSG will hold further talks with Galatasaray this week after receiving a £4 million bid from the Super Lig club.
Yokuslu has admirers in Istanbul too, but Gueye remains the number one target. And if the latter arrives, the former will not. This town ain’t big enough for the both of them.
So West Brom supporters may find himself in rather the usual situation of keeping a keen eye on PSG’s transfer plans, waiting for the first domino to fall.
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