Who is Cenk Tosun? The Besiktas star in £27million transfer to Everton
THE Premier League has been fruitful destinations for players of Turkish-German descent in recent times.
Now Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun is following in the footsteps of Mesut Ozil and Emre Can.
Like Arsenal star Ozil and Liverpool midfielder Can, the 26-year-old was born in Germany.
But, unlike the Premier League duo, after representing Die Mannschaft at youth level, he has established himself as a Turkish international.
And with four goals in as many Champions League outings this season, the forward is heading to Everton in the January transfer window.
Our friends at Football Whispers provide the lowdown on the Besiktas forward who could be Premier League-bound.
Who is Cenk Tosun and where does he come from?
Born in the city of Wetzlar, in the state of Hesse, Tosun’s talent was identified at a young age and he joined Eintracht Frankfurt, who played nearly 75km away, at the age of six.
Tosun was a hit with the Eagles and spent 13 years at the club progressing through the various youth levels.
He was prolific too, scoring 20 times in 40 outings for the Under-19s and adding a further 12 in just 17 appearances for the second string.
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But despite boasting an enviable strike rate he could not force his way into the first team with any regularity.
In three seasons in and around the first-team group, Tosun managed just one substitute outing for Eintracht, playing the final 15 minutes of a 3-1 defeat at Wolfsburg in May 2010.
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It was clear the young forward was not going to get his chance and in January 2011 he left for Turkish side Gaziantepspor for just €400,000.
It proved a shrewd deal for the Turkish Super Lig side who were soon rewarded for their leap of faith.
Tosun scored his first league goal in his third game for the club, a 4-1 thrashing of Bursaspor.
He bagged his second 13 minutes after his first and finished his first half a season with the Falcons having netted 10 in just 14 starts.
The goals did not flow as regularly the following season – just six in 18 starts – but Tosun managed double figures in each of the next two campaigns while also winning the Spor Toto Cup in 2012.
A year later he won his first full cap for Turkey – in 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat against Holland – and has since scored nine times in 23 outings for his country.
By the summer of 2014, Besiktas decided they had seen enough and snapped up the Turkish international.
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He endured an underwhelming start to life with the Istanbul outfit, but his return of five goals came from just six starts and a further 12 substitute outings.
There was improvement the following season as he scored eight times in the Super Lig but was afforded just three starts as Besiktas won the title. Clearly coach Senol Gunes felt Tosun was an impact player.
But that all changed at the start of the 2016/17 season. Despite competition from former Newcastle forward Demba Ba, Tosun thrived.
He scored in the first three Super Lig games of the season and he was on his way, finishing the season with 24 in all competitions and a second league winner’s medal.
And Tosun credits Ba with helping his development at Besiktas. “I learned a lot from Demba Ba and Mario Gomez – I developed and gained a lot of experience,” he told UEFA’s website in April.
“They are both top-quality strikers. I increased my goal haul last season and finally felt ready to break into the starting XI. The coach trusted in me and I’m repaying his faith by scoring.”