View: Cenk Tosun’s Everton exit could be scuppered by season-ending knee injury
Everton may have lost their final chance to cash in on Cenk Tosun after he suffered a knee injury for loan side Besiktas on Sunday.
Tosun, 29, was a peripheral member of the Blues squad this season before he linked up with the Turkish club in January on a temporary deal until the end of the campaign.
He failed to score in seven appearances for Carlo Ancelotti’s side but hit the ground running at Besiktas with three goals in as many games.
However he is set for a long spell on the sidelines after he “landed awkwardly” and suffered a knee injury against BB Erzurumspor [Daily Sabah].
The severity of the issue was laid bare by a number of public messages of support he received on Sunday night. Ex-Arsenal star Mesut Ozil tweeted: “Get well soon bro @CenkTosun_ . I hope you will return to the fields stronger as soon as possible.”
Sky Sports journalist Alan Myers, who was previously director of communications at Everton and retains close links with the club, said on his personal Twitter profile: “Seems Cenk Tosun’s season is over after an injury today, desperately disappointing for him.”
This is a crushing blow to all parties but Everton will likely suffer the biggest financial hit from this.
Besiktas will be shorn of the services of a striker who was helping to guide them to a league title while Tosun will be ruing an expected spell on the sidelines.
But the Blues will be counting the cost of an expensive outcast who might be tough to ship out in the summer.
Director of football Marcel Brands has surely tried to offload Tosun on numerous times in recent years as he has made just 10 Premier League appearances for Everton since the start of the 2019/20 campaign.
The International Business Times reported at the time of his move to Merseyside in 2018 that the Turkey international would earn £145,000-a-week, huge wages that have in no way been justified by his performances in England.
A successful loan at Besiktas would have surely driven up interest in Tosun and led to his inevitable exit, but this injury could change everything.
The length of his absence has not yet been disclosed but a season-ending injury to the knee sounds serious and if he is ruled out for more than a few months Everton will find it difficult to send him packing.
His Blues deal expires in June 2022 [Transfermarkt] so he will be available to field pre-contract offers from foreign clubs in January ahead of his summer free agency, which would see the club suffer a huge hit on a player they bought for £27million [Sky Sports].
Transfermarkt rate his current value at £5.4million and while that will be debated, lower or higher, he surely would have fetched a fee in the millions which means alongside his big wages, Everton will be count the cost of his injury with serious summer bidders likely to be put off after this latest development.
In other Everton news, Alex Iwobi video hints at squad shake-up v Brighton.
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