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Besiktas have held ‘positive’ first talks with Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey about a move to Turkey this month.

That’s according to Fanatik, who say the Turkish side want to improve the ‘lack of quality’ in their midfielder and have targeted the Newcastle man.

Fanatik explain that after resolving their issues upfront with the signing of Vincent Aboubakar, who is arriving to replace Wout Weghorst following his move to Manchester United, Besiktas are now turning their attention to their midfield issues.

They are not satisfied with the performances they’ve been getting out of Dele Alli, who has failed to make a positive impression since joining on loan from Everton in the summer.

Thus they want to buy another midfielder to add to the squad and add someone who can help improve Gedson Fernandes but also lighten the burden on him.

A ‘star name’ is being targeted and, not put off by Alli’s failures, the club are aiming to ‘bring a star from England again’. The man in focus in Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey.

Contacts have been started for the 30-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season so free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with clubs in Europe this month.

Besiktas want a permanent transfer now, though, and so have held first talks with the player, which ‘have been positive’ so far.

That suggests Shelvey is open to the move, although whether Besiktas have been in contact with Newcastle about all this isn’t clear at this point.

What is, however, is that they have held initial talks with the player and received positive feedback, so this is a situation to keep an eye on as a move is very much on the cards.