Tosun only moved to Everton in a £27 million deal from Besiktas in January.
Several English publications have reported an approach from Benfica for Everton striker Cenk Tosun – who the Eagles are said to want to trade for Brazilian playmaker Anderson Talisca.
Alarm bells ringing, HITC Sport decided to track down the source of the rumour, for which the Portuguese newspaper A Bola is credited with starting by Teamtalk and the Liverpool Echo alike.
That few other publications ran with the story only increased our suspicion, however, and, lo and behold, we found that A Bola had indeed cited Fotomac – its Turkish colleagues.
Granted, no one at this website is fluent in Turkish or Portuguese, but a quick run-through Google Translate of each story pointed towards a language mix-up somewhere off the west coast of mainland Europe.
In neither newspaper do Everton appear to be mentioned in connection with Talisca – who is already on loan to Besiktas – while the past tense is prominent in both pieces, implying that Benfica’s approach was made prior to Tosun’s January move to Goodison Park.
Make of it what you will, although we shall be erring on the side of caution on this occasion.
In case you were wondering, here’s what Everton fans are saying about the prospect of a Tosun/Talisca swap deal.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
