For the past few months, reports from Turkey have stated Beşiktaş will have an obligation to make West Ham United defender Arthur Masuaku’s loan stay permanent if he features for more than 45 minutes in 25 matches this season.
The left-back has made 26 appearances in all competitions for the Black Eagles this season, out of which he’s featured less than 45 minutes only on one occasion.
He played 86 minutes in Beşiktaş’s league win over Giresunspor at the weekend. After the tie, TGRT Haber stated the clause in the contract ‘has been activated’ and this will see West Ham collect €2.2m from Beşiktaş.
This claim wasn’t been backed up by the Turkish club’s manager, Şenol Güneş, during a post-match press conference on Sunday. His comments are relayed by Milliyet, and when responding to the DR Congo international’s situation, the coach spoke about the clause.
“We haven’t decided on Masuaku. He has a contract that will automatically extend based on the number of matches he plays,” he said.
“As a club in the championship race, these issues should not be confusing. Of course, it’s something that management knows better. But I think we are late on Masuaku.”
Güneş didn’t elaborate on why he thinks his side have been “late on Masuaku”. There’s been no suggestions from Turkey about a potential deadline to activate the clause.
It’ll be interesting to see how this case develops now that Masuaku has featured for more than 45 minutes on 25 occasions, which was reportedly needed to automatically make his deal permanent.
