Leicester City outcast Rachid Ghezzal’s move to Besiktas is in danger of collapse over his increasing wage demands.
That’s according to Hurriyet, who cover the situation today and explain why the move hasn’t been finalised yet.
Ghezzal was the star of the show while on loan at Besiktas last season, playing a key role in their title success.
He is keen to return to the club, and they would like to have him, with negotiations underway between themselves and Leicester for months.
The Foxes are happy to let Ghezzal go and even lowered their demands to make a move happen, but as of yet, a deal hasn’t been completed, and it seems that is because of the player’s changing demands, something which has not gone down well with Besiktas.
Hurriyet explain that Besiktas have ‘suspended’ talks with Ghezzal and his agent after they continued to increase their demands during negotiations.
At first, they were demanding €2.8m, but this was increased to €3.2m, with his agent Anouir Fazuli then asking for a four-year contract and a ‘testimonial’.
The two parties met two days ago to discuss a deal, and at this point, it’s claimed Fazuli warned Besiktas that they also had an offer from Galatasaray.
He made it clear that Ghezzal wants to stay at Besiktas, but the €2.8m offered was not enough, and that would have to be increased.
In reply, president Ahmet Nur Chebi responded that while Ghezzal is ‘valuable’ to them, they have already offered €3.2m, and that is already an increase from the €1.8m he earns at Leicester.
Fazuli continues to push, though, wanting a four-year deal, and that has led Chebi to halt negotiations for the time being.
This has led coach Sergen Yalcin to step in, with him speaking to Fazuli and Ghezzal, reportedly telling the latter that he is ‘annoying’ him by the lack of movement.
In short, the whole situation is a mess, and things have now hit the buffers between Ghezzal and Besiktas because of his agent and his demands.
It means Leicester may be left in limbo until the two parties can reach an agreement, with this transfer seemingly not going to happen any time soon.
