Everton director of football Steve Walsh has jetted out to Turkey to wrap up the signing of Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun amid fears that the transfer could be hijacked by rivals, according to the Times.
The newspaper claim that Walsh has travelled to Istanbul for further talks on the future of Tosun, who has interest from Europe’s big hitters as the Merseysiders aim to thrash out a deal.
Tosun appeared to be waving goodbye to Besiktas fans on Thursday night when he scored in the 4-1 win over Osmanlispor in the Turkish Cup, which is likely to be his final game for the Istanbul giants.
It has been widely reported that the forward will join Everton for a fee of between £20million-£25million but the Times report Besiktas claim to have had enquiries from the likes of Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Roma.
“It’s in the wind,” said Allardyce of interest in Tosun at his media briefing on Friday. “There’s an interest obviously because we’re actively looking for a front man, but whether we are the ones to complete that deal or not [remains to be seen].
The former Frankfurt striker has proven himself to be a goal machine with Besiktas this season, scoring 14 goals in 24 appearances across all competitions, with four of them coming in the Champions League group stages.