Everton are tracking Besiktas midfielder, Oğuzhan Özyakup in an attempt to turn their Premier League fortunes around. The Liverpool Echo are claiming that the Toffees have kept a keen eye on Oğuzhan Özyakup who was once compared to Zinedine Zidane by ex Turkey international and pundit, Rıdvan Dilmen. The club from Merseyside are amongst his biggest admirers. Some sources are also claiming that the Toffees have shown interest in the player after a series of standout performances for the current Turkish champions, Besiktas this season.
The 26-year-old former Arsenal player is out of contract in the summer. So his current club Besiktas is looking to offload him on a cut-price deal rather than let him go for free at the end of the season. According to reports, Besiktas are trying to negotiate a new deal for him, which would have a release clause of around £9m in a desperate attempt to keep hold of the player. Other sources have said that the club officials of Besiktas have allowed Everton to meet with the player. If an agreement can be reached, then Besiktas will enter negotiations to finalize the transfer fee.
The Besiktas midfielder can play centrally or in an advanced attacking position, which makes him highly versatile. The Turkish footballer has represented Arsenal in their youth ranks and featured in 41 games for the Gunners U-23 team scoring 6 goals and making 11 assists. He has also made two senior first-team appearances for Arsenal. His debut for the senior team came way back in 2011, in a League Cup match against Shrewsbury Town where he made an assist for a Yossi Benayoun goal to cap off a comfortable 3-1 victory. During his time with the North London club in England, the midfielder won two successive Premier Academy League titles, as well as the 2008–09 FA Youth Cup.
Besiktas signed Oğuzhan Özyakup from Arsenal in 2012 and since then, he has gone on to make 198 appearances for the club and has scored 27 goals and made 44 assists in the process. The 26-year-old has also won two successive SuperLig titles with Besiktas in the past two seasons.
He has been in terrific form this season and has especially caught the eye with his performances in the UEFA Champions League. Besiktas have already secured qualification to the knockout stages of Europe’s premier competition and it is mostly to do with the incredible productivity of their players on the pitch.
The Toffees would do well to secure his services in the near future as his contribution can be immense in turning Everton’s fortunes around.
