Former Liverpool midfielder Nuri Sahin revealed that he helped convince Cenk Tosun to join Everton in an interview with the Hurriyet.
Sahin stated that he encouraged Tosun into making the move and backed his Turkey international teammate to be a success at the club.
The Dortmund midfielder underlined that he has never seen a player in the Super Lig develop as much as Tosun and that he believes the striker will become a key player at his new club.
Sahin said: “I have never seen a player in recent years who has developed as much as he has in Turkey. He has improved a lot. He works hard every single day to improve.“
“For this specific reason, I believe he’ll become a very important player for Everton.”
“He phoned me, we spoke about a couple of things before making the move.
“The first one was about how well he’ll fit at Everton. I told him he is a proven player and that he’ll achieve success at Everton. I told him to take up the opportunity.”
Sahin also touched upon a topic which made the headlines in Turkey but received little press in England.
Tosun took a large container of olives with him upon completing his move from Turkey to England.
The 26-year-old is a bit of an olive lover and was worried he would no longer be able to get his fix in Liverpool.
Sahin joked that he will give Tosun the details of a Turkish shop in Liverpool where he will be able to find olives and other goods.
“Also we talked about life in Liverpool and generally England. He liked what I said. But for only one thing, he didn’t need to bring Turkish olives all the way from Turkey, I’ll give him the address of the Turkish market in Liverpool right after this interview.”
Sahin spent six months on loan at Liverpool from Real Madrid playing just seven league games.
Tosun completed his Everton move last Friday and is set to play his first game at Goodison Park against West Brom on Saturday.