Turkish side Altay are ‘determined’ not to sell young star Efe Sarikaya on the cheap amid interest from Manchester City.
That’s according to Fanatik, who say the Super Lig side are refusing to sell the 17-year-old defender ‘below his value’ should he depart.
Manchester City have been interested in the youngster since midway through the January transfer window when Altay manager Sinan Kaloglu confirmed that his president was speaking to those in charge at the Etihad about a transfer.
Altay, though, are ‘not in a hurry’ to sell the player and have made it clear that the offers they have received, including from Atletico Madrid and Eyüpspor, as ‘low’.
They were demanding a fee of around €1m and a share of any subsequent sale in future but were only offered €300,000 to €400,000.
Their representative ‘maintains his contacts’ with the interested parties, including Manchester City and Besiktas, and won’t ‘compromise’ in any negotiations despite a need for additional financial resources.
They’ve now raised their demands to €1.8m for the defender, who continues to be a regular for Altay in the meantime.
For now those in charge at the club are not happy with the various ‘bonus offers’ included in the deals proposed and want a better deal when it comes to figures involving games played either in the league or Europe.
Whether they get what they want from anybody remains to be seen but it seems Manchester City will need to work harder if they are as keen to scoop up the youngster as has been claimed.
