Cenk Tosun is set to return to Besiktas in the January transfer window, reports Turkey’s Fotospor.
The striker has a contract with Everton lasting until June 2022, and the insinuation is that he’ll be able to leave Goodison Park on a free transfer.
Fotospor say there was a chance for a free transfer over the summer, but Tosun refused that and preferred to wait at the Premier League club.
According to the claims, there’s two reasons for that.
Firstly, Tosun is still recovering from a knee injury and it’s expected he won’t be able to play until mid November. Therefore, he didn’t see the point of moving back to Turkey early, and is instead progressing his recovery with Everton.
On top of that, and perhaps more important, is wages.
Fotospor say Tosun currently earns €3.5m a year with the Premier League club. Besiktas were only offering €1.5m plus bonuses, so he didn’t think it was worth giving up the extra wages just for the chance of playing in late November and through December.