Besiktas are looking to terminate Arthur Masuaku’s loan deal during the January transfer window before sending the unwanted defender back to Premier League giants West Ham United, according to Turkish publication Milliyet.
Last week, Ridvan Yilmaz stuck a pin in reports suggesting he could return to his former club during the January transfer window, insisting that he had ‘no intention’ of re-joining Besiktas after just a few months at Rangers.
“I want to play in the top leagues in Europe until the age of 28 or 29 at least. And (I want to) prove myself,” Yilmaz says, via the Daily Record. “So I have no intention of returning to Turkish football right now.”
That this does not appear to have changed Besiktas’ stance on Masuaku, however, speaks volumes about how much of a beating the 29-year-old’s reputation has taken in Istanbul.
The France-born DR Congo international only joined Besiktas from West Ham three months ago. Masuaku arrived on loan, with a £2 million purchase clause in his contract.
As things stand, you’d get shorter odds on Harry Kane professing his undying love for all things claret-and-blue than that clause being triggered.
Besiktas could to terminate Arthur Masuaku deal and send him back to West Ham
Besiktas, reports say, are ‘planning’ to send Masuaku back to the London Stadium five months ahead of schedule. His contract could be terminated by mutual consent; recently-appointed head coach Senol Gunes making it clear that a player who arrived during the Valerien Ismael era is not part of his future plans.
If Masuaku was to block Besiktas’ attempts to get him off the wage bill, Milliyet say that he will be dropped form the first-team squad for the remainder of the season.
Masuaku has played 12 times in the Turkish Super Lig. That £2 million purchase clause remains optional. But there would be an obligation for Besiktas to make his stay permanent, should Masuaku start 25 games for the capital city club.
Right now, it seems unlikely in the extreme that he’ll get even halfway to that magic number.
West Ham, then, may find themselves in a familiar position in the New Year; hoping to find a club willing to take Masuaku off their hands.
‘Abnormal decline’
With Dortmund’s Raphael Guerreiro, Benfica’s Alejandro Grimaldo and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykola Matviyenko all on West Ham’s radar, Masuaku is likely to fall even further down David Moyes’ pecking order in the near future.
Masuaku, Milliyet, say ‘has experienced a serious decline recently’. He made a high-profile mistake which led to a goal against Super Lig holders Trabzonspor. Masuaku also missed the Istanbul derby with Galatasaray thanks to a niggling knee injury.
“He goes forward fast. He uses the ball very well,” explains pundit Hamdi Aslan, via Besiktas News.
“Suddenly, there was an abnormal decline. There was a very rapid fall. The player who is most affected by (Besiktas’ struggles) is Masuaku.”
Yilmaz, meanwhile, will be hoping for a fresh start at Rangers. The Ibrox giants hired Mick Beale as their new manager on Monday.
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