5 Little Known Facts About £27m Everton Signing Cenk Tosun
Cenk Tosun completed his move from Besiktas to Everton yesterday so we thought we would share a few lesser known facts about the star striker.
See More: Who Is Everton Target Cenk Tosun – Bull Of The Merseyside
It’s all in the name
Turkish names often have literal meanings and Cenk Tosun is no different.
Cenk means battle or war while Tosun means young bull so Everton fans feel free to call him the Bull of War of something cool like that.
The striker was nicknamed Tosun Paşa (Pasha) in Turkey. Pasha was an honorary title granted to officials of the Ottoman Empire.
As for the pronunciation of his name.. Jenk Toh-suhn – not Toe-soon like I am sure he will be called.
It’s all in the number
Tosun is a big Michael Jordan fan which is why he picked the number 23 as his shirt number at Besiktas. It looks like he will not be able to keep his number at Everton as it is currently unavailable.
It’s all in the city
Tosun and Emre Can were both born in the German state of Hesse. Both rose through the youth ranks at Frankfurt together for nine years.
Can went to play for Germany while Tosun opted for Turkey.
After years apart the two players will once again play in the same city but this time for rival sides.
Champions League Record Setter
Tosun has been involved in seven goals in 12 Champions League games for Besiktas.
No other player has scored as many goals as him in the competition – 5.
The prolific forward netted four and provided two assists in Group G this season as Besiktas became the first Turkish side to finish the first stage as leaders.
The 26-year-old was directly involved in six of the Black Eagles 11 goals and picked up the UEFA goal of the group stage award for the second season running.
Transfer record setter
The Turkey international joined Besiktas on a free transfer from Gaziantepspor three-years ago. He came as a third choice striker but managed to challenge Demba Ba for a starting role in his first season. Tosun went onto give Mario Gomez a run for his money the following term and kept Vincent Aboubakar out the side last campaign.
The star striker come to Everton on the back of winning back-to-back league titles.
Tosun became the most expensive transfer in Super Lig history after Everton shelled out £27 million on him.