Tottenham transfer news: Bundesliga giants join race for 20-goal striker valued at €20m
Bayer Leverkusen have joined the race for Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun according to the Turkish sports outlet Fanatik.
Per the source, Bayer have been impressed with Tosun after scouting the former Frankfurt academy player.
Bayer head coach Tayfun Korkut is like Tosun an ethnic Turk born in Germany.
Korkut also played for Turkey at international level.
Tosun’s impressive form has resulted in widespread interest from across Europe.
Turkish-Football reported yesterday that Tottenham have also been keeping close tabs on the powerful striker.
West Ham have also been monitoring the striker and head coach Slaven Bilic has worked closely with Tosun in the past during his time in charge of Besiktas.
Besiktas value Tosun as being worth €20 million and have a policy of selling star players if their valuation is met.
See More: For Besiktas news and everything you want to know about the club
The Takvim newspaper quoted a Besiktas spokesperson as saying: “Cenk is a key player, we would only consider offers of €20 million for him, otherwise he will stay.”
The Eagles also sold Demba Ba after he finished the season as top scorer and allowed Mario Gomez to leave at the end of last season.
Tosun has hit the ground running this season. The 25-year-old started the campaign as second choice striker to Vincent Aboubakar but soon overtook the Cameroon international in the pecking order.
The Turkish international is the highest goalscorer in Turkey this season and has 20 goals in all competitions for the reigning champions.
Tosun also has 18 international caps and has scored five times for Turkey.
The Besiktas ace scored twice in four minutes against Finland in Turkey’s 2018 World Cup qualifier over the international break.
Turkey ended up winning the game 2-0 and closing the gap with the leading pack in Group L.
Tosun was awarded the UEFA Champions League Goal of the Group stages award for his wonderful volley against Benfica.
Besiktas are currently competing in the Europa League and will take on Lyon in the quarter-finals.
The Black Eagles are also first in the Turkish league and favourites to defend the title.