Besiktas president Fikret Orman says that striker Cenk Tosun would be valued at a far higher amount if he played in a different country.
Turkish newspaper Aksam reported that Orman was demanding at least £20m from Newcastle for the forward, but speaking out about the Turkish international’s potential departure from the Super Lig champions, Orman questioned why players in Turkish football are so undervalued. He told NTV Spor (translated by the Shields Gazette):
“(Kylian) Mbappe went to Paris Saint-Germain for €180m, (Naby) Keita for €70m or €80m, so placing a higher value than €20m on Tosun is not crazy. “If Mbappe had played for Besiktas, would PSG have paid that amount? We need to raise the brand value of Turkish football.”
Crystal Palace, Wolfsburg and Tottenham have also been linked with a bid for Tosun in recent weeks, but it seems that Besiktas will play hardball with any team trying to sign the 26 year old in January.
The striker scored his fourth goal in four Champions League group games against Monaco last night, taking his total for the season up to nine in 14 matches.
Tosun was actually born in Germany, and started off in Eintracht Frankfurt’s youth academy before making the switch to Gaziantepspor in 2011. After three years, he then made the switch to Besiktas where he has become the club’s first choice striker.
