Besiktas deny agreement with Everton for Tosun sale

Everton have reportedly been in intense talks in recent days to sign Tosun for a deal worth some 30 million euros ($40.7m).

But Besiktas, who have reached the knockout stage of the Champions League where they will face Bayern Munich in the last 16, want as high a price as possible.

“Besiktas is a serious institution and all moves are taken very seriously,” club chairman Fikret Orman said at the signing ceremony for new Croatian arrival, defender Domagoj Vida. “Cenk is a very valuable player.”

“The talks are continuing. If it all works, it will be fine, if not then it won’t,” he said, quoted by the Dogan news agency.

“We will move according to our own strategy. We have our own targets and the player’s future is also important for us.”

“Nothing final has been reached yet,” he said, revealing that Besiktas had also received a 35 million-euro offer for the player from China.

The Germany-born Tosun, 26, impressed as Besiktas topped their Champions League group.

In Turkey, he is known as Tosun Pasha, in reference to a popular Turkish 1970s comedy show.

He is seen as the best Turkish striker since the days of Hakan Sukur, who helped his country to third place in the 2002 World Cup but then fell into disgrace over his links with the preacher Fethullah Gulen, blamed for the 2016 failed coup.