Everton open to offers for striker Cenk Tosun
Everton are looking to offload injury-stricken Turkish striker Cenk Tosun this summer, according to The Athletic.
The 30-year-old was signed by Sam Allardyce from Besiktas for £27million in January 2018 [BBC], and he scored five goals in 15 appearances under the former England manager.
However, since Allardyce’s departure from Goodison Park at the end of the 2018/19 campaign, Tosun has scored just six times in 44 outings.
He re-joined Besiktas on loan in January but after just four games for the Super Lig giants he was struck down by a long-term injury which caused the abandonment of his temporary move to the Istanbul club.
Now, according to a report by The Athletic, the 45-capped Turkey international is “set to be made available for transfer again this summer”, with the Merseyside outfit aiming to bring in a new forward.
Flop
Mark this one down as another big-money mistake made by the club.
There have been a number of disastrous signings over the past few years as our strategy has constantly shifted in the transfer market, and Tosun ranks as one of the worst.
He made an immediate impact under Allardyce but he’s always looked well short of the gold standard required to succeed at Everton, and it’s a bad reflection on the club that he’s even still considered a Blues player.
Remarkably, his contract does not expire until June 2022, and thus the club will be putting him back on the market, presumably in the latter stages of his recovery from the major knee injury he suffered at Besiktas.
After his injury in February his father told Saber that he was aiming to be back in around six to seven months, which would place August as a reasonable comeback date.
However, any club interest in signing him would surely be on the edge if his return to fitness is not until the concluding weeks of the summer transfer window.
As such, can we really expect anyone to take him off our hands? It seems highly unlikely anyone will pay a transfer fee, or at least one of any significance, while his wages will also likely dissuade interested parties.
Therefore, it may well be a case of paying him off rather than offering him out, or risking another season of the 18-goal Turkey striker still being on the books.
In other Everton news, a BBC pundit has suggested that these Blues stars will be unexpectedly shunned by Rafa Benitez.
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