Wout Weghorst’s agent met with Besiktas sporting director Ceyhun Kazanci on Monday morning to try and seal a January move to Manchester United, according to reports in Turkey.
The towering Dutch striker has emerged as a shock target for the Red Devils, with compatriot Erik ten Hag eager to bring in a new forward following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, any deal is complicated by the fact that Weghorst is on loan in Istanbul from Burnley and Besiktas want to be compensated in order to terminate his loan stay early.
Discussions are ongoing and, as reported by Turkish outlet TRT Spor, Weghorst’s agent, Simon Cziommer, met with Besiktas on Monday.
The agent was spotted arriving at the club’s Nevzat Demir training facility in the morning and stayed for roughly an hour.
According to TRT Spor, Cziommer officially communicated Weghorst’s desire to leave Besiktas this month, with the 30-year-old forward desperate to make the move to Old Trafford.
But Besiktas sporting director Kazanci made it clear that the striker would only be allowed to leave if the club can secure a replacement while they also expect to receive a fee for terminating his loan early.
Ironically, Al-Nassr’s Vincent Aboubakar is the man Besiktas want to sign, with the Cameroon international potentially available as a result of Ronaldo’s arrival at the Saudi Arabian club.
Kazanci has already publicly stated that Besiktas expect to be compensated for terminating Weghorst’s loan early, saying: ‘If Manchester United or any other team wants Wegnorst, they will meet with Burnley anyway. Burnley will then contact us and discuss the terms of separation.
‘If we accept, the contract will be terminated. Otherwise, it will go on until the end of the season. He can’t just go.
‘There will have to be an incentive for us to approve the separation. I’ll give an example: if Burnley told us, “We made a deal with this team for Weghorst, we’ll give you half of the transfer fee” – this may be a different condition. Then we’ll sit down and talk.’
He added: ‘I don’t understand why Weghorst said goodbye to the fans, why he made such a move. He is our football player right now. Our contract expires at the end of the season.’
Weghorst has been in excellent form for Besiktas this season, scoring eight times and laying on four assists in 16 Super Lig outings, and the Turkish giants were thought to be considering activating his €10million (£8.8m) buy clause.
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