Seasons2017-18Rumour Mill

Klaassen close to two-year loan deal with Besiktas

Davy Klaassen could be set to join Besiktas on a two-season loan deal with an option to make the move permanent in 2020 if a report in Turkey can be believed.

The Dutch midfielder has been the subject of recent news reports, most notably from Sky Sports, linking him with the Turkish giants but now Hakan Gà¼ndoÄŸar from A Sports, is suggesting a deal with Everton is 99% concluded.

The claim is that Everton will receive €1.5m (~£1.3m) a year in loan fees and that Besiktas will pay the player €2m (£1.75m) a year. Depending on the arrangement with the player and how much Klaassen is actually currently earning – it's been variously reported as being between £70,000 and £100,000 a week – that would cover anywhere between 60% and 85% of what he would be paid if he stayed at Goodison Park.

The only remaining sticking point is the final price should Besiktas wish to make the deal permanent — Everton are asking for €20m but the Turks are trying to negotiate that fee down.

Klaassen was signed from Ajax last July for £23.6m but struggled to adapt to the Premier League in tandem with the Blues' poor start to last season.

He was eventually dropped from the first team and his last start was in the Europa League dead rubber against Apollon Limassol in Nicosia in December.

Only this week he was talking of how happy he was to be with the Blues and his hopes for next season at Goodison but it appears as though he could be moving on having made just three Premier League starts.

"I feel at home and am determined to play more for the team,” he said in the Liverpool Echo. “We have a vacation now and I will relax for a couple of weeks but then start training to come back in top condition.

“That is my goal and everybody's goal, so there is going to be good competition for places. You have to be ready as soon as you are needed.

“It is hard to be patient but if you keep working it will come. You have to work hard and try to show yourself when you get a chance."

The 25-year-old could one of a number of victims of a hard-nosed cull of Everton's first team this summer as new Director of Football, Marcel Brands, and manager, Marco Silva, attempt to trim the size of the squad and the team's wage bill.

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