Seasons2020-21Everton News

Tosun plays down talk of Turkey return

Wednesday, 9 September, 2020 36comments  |  Jump to last
Cenk Tosun says he won't be going anywhere this transfer window, insisting that even if he weren't injured, he's not ready to return to his homeland.

The Turkish striker was linked with a move back to Besiktas before he joined Crystal Palace on loan last season but his chances of securing a permanent move to Selhurst Park were wrecked when he ruptured an ACL earlier this year.

Tosun isn't expected to be fit until the end of 2020 but that hasn't prevented media talk of interest from Fenerbahçe in recent weeks.

"I am injured so I have not held talks with anyone,” Tosun said, however.

“I won't be going anywhere before I have recovered. Even if a side were to sign me they wouldn't play me until the winter break.

I worked with Ancelotti for two to three weeks after returning. He does not want me to leave and asks how I am doing with my recovery every day.

“It is early for me to return to Turkey. I need to achieve my goals first and for that to happen my priority is to make a recovery.”

Quotes sourced from A Spor via Turkish Football

Reader Comments (36)

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Alex Gray
1 Posted 09/09/2020 at 20:09:18
Weird one Tosun. Performs well internationally and looks quality but is just too slow for the prem.
Dan Nulty
2 Posted 09/09/2020 at 20:10:05
Fair enough.
Nick Page
3 Posted 09/09/2020 at 20:17:38
Of all the absolute dross we’ve signed, I think there is a player there in Tosun, and with better service I think he would be a decent striker. He knows where the goal is.
Danny Baily
4 Posted 09/09/2020 at 20:22:06
There's a squad role for Tosun here if he's up for it. His wages are far too high for that though.
Fran Mitchell
5 Posted 09/09/2020 at 20:26:46
I agree that there is a plac ein the squad for Tosun. Nota first choice, no way near, but with DCL and Kean vying for the main sriker role, Tosun as a back up seems reasonable. He seems a good guy, he seems content, and he's not a bad finisher. Too slow and not strong enough to have defined, first place role, but as a sub I'd rather see him in the squad to many others on the payroll.
Brian Williams
6 Posted 09/09/2020 at 20:33:13
After all the really good news he comes out and pisses on our chips! 😢😢😢
Tony Everan
7 Posted 09/09/2020 at 20:41:21
The Palace fans liked him, he was doing ok for them before the injury. He could definitely do a job for a mid/lower PL team or as squad player for us providing backup for injuries . I expect he will be sold or loaned in January though to get his wages of the books.
Bill Gienapp
8 Posted 09/09/2020 at 20:44:06
Tosun might do okay in a 4-2-2, especially with a more functional, higher caliber midfield providing service. He also seems committed to the club and trying to contribute. That being said, he's shelved until at least midseason, so there's not much to talk about until then.
Joe McMahon
9 Posted 09/09/2020 at 21:02:26
Never been convinced, he's no Aquero is he. I think he likes his high salary at Everton too much to be moving to Turkey.
Pat Kelly
10 Posted 09/09/2020 at 21:04:05
I blame the turkey who signed him
Colin Glassar
11 Posted 09/09/2020 at 21:11:21
He’s not going to lose up to 2/3 of his current wage is by going to Turkey.
Derek Knox
13 Posted 10/09/2020 at 00:59:52
PatK@10, so he refuses to talk turkey eh? I thought he'd have gobbled that one up! :-)
Julian Wait
14 Posted 10/09/2020 at 01:36:31
Bill @8 hopefully it will be 4-4-2... 4-2-2 was last season mate 🤣
Bobby Mallon
15 Posted 10/09/2020 at 07:30:15
Tosun is a better finisher than Calvert-Lewin. He's a good striker that was bought to play with a strike partner, then Big Sam was sacked and he didn't stand a chance playing in Silva's system.

I don't think he will be here once he is back to full fitness as injuries always affect people. But he's not rubbish as some on here think.

Terence Leong
16 Posted 10/09/2020 at 07:36:27
I think Tosun is a victim of poor support from the team, when he joined.
As some have mentioned here, he's got an eye for goal, more than DCL, and his finishing is actually alot more clinical.
What worked against him, was he being slower, and less pacy, and less physical than DCL.
I do think, if there is a chance to be given, more service and joined up play all around (e.g. from our creative players - the Rodriguez upgrade, Gomes having relieved from the burden of doing it all in the middle), I can see how Tosun can be alot more effective.
He looks like an intelligent player who can vary his game.
Robert Tressell
17 Posted 10/09/2020 at 07:45:46
Lot of truth in this. Our squad is like a lost property box full of odds and ends belonging to various manager's systems. Nothing looks much good in there alongside all the rest of the crap.

But Kean is the player to develop and build around now.

Bobby Mallon
18 Posted 10/09/2020 at 07:52:47
I just want to say to all our American blues living with the wild fires, stay safe and good luck.
Benjamin Dyke
19 Posted 10/09/2020 at 07:59:52
If he could head the ball and run a bit faster he'd have have a lot more goals and credibility but then so would I. I like him. He's hit the jackpot thanks to Big Sam and that Director of Football and he'll soon be home running timeshares and restaurant chains with Erdogans marketing support.
Martin Berry
20 Posted 10/09/2020 at 08:28:36
I still think we have a player here who has been a victim of the mess around Evertons previous Manager merry go round.
The man can score goals and finish and the new set up should create a lot more chances.
Stick with him for another season as he may yet surprise us all.
Jim Harrison
21 Posted 10/09/2020 at 11:39:00
Probably a 10 goal a season striker on the right team.

A waste of money for a team that has high aspirations

Harry Wallace
22 Posted 10/09/2020 at 12:56:31
Surely he needs to think about his career? He won’t get games here
Steve Ferns
23 Posted 10/09/2020 at 13:11:27
One thing to remember with Cenk Tosun is that he is not as Turkish as you may think. He’s German born and raised, by Turkish parents, and only moved to Turkey as an Adult, around the age of 21. So, a move to Turkey ain’t really a move home.

I think he’d probably fancy a move back to Germany. But for both Turkey and Germany, wages are an issue.

The lad has a young family, I think his wife just had another baby, and he probably doesn’t want to move and he wants to secure their futures. I expect him to see his contract out.

Robert Tressell
24 Posted 10/09/2020 at 13:21:12
Steve, I think he moved to Turkey having not made the grade in Germany. Something like that. Then, through hard work and football intelligence, turned himself from being a 4th choice into the top striker at Besitkas scoring goals in the Champions league. From the stats he was never getting huge goal hauls though, even for a top side that created chances. So even though he's a good finisher, he looked like maybe an 8 to 10 goal a season man in the Prem. A good bloke but a poor signing. Unlikely to play for us again, I expect. Will be loaned or sold once fit.
Steve Ferns
25 Posted 10/09/2020 at 13:23:21
Excellent interview on Tosun from the official site last year Link

I think the German side of personality really comes through here. Punctuality and work ethic are key components of the German psyche, along with never giving up. The lad has been written off throughout his career and made it through refusing to give up. He clearly has a steely determination and everyone says nice things about him. I don’t think he will give up on the premier league and unless someone like palace wants him, he will stay here and fight for his place in the side.

Edit: Robert yes, see the article. As for goals he scored 80 league goals in 205 games across 7.5 seasons, so that’s exactly 10 a season, in the league. But he did score 28 goals in his last two seasons as he went up a level. He also scored 8 champions leagues on top of that figure in his last two seasons in Turkey.

Brian Harrison
26 Posted 10/09/2020 at 13:46:43
As much as I admire his determination to prove people wrong, I also think he knows he will never again get the money that Everton are paying him, so why would he be in any hurry to leave. Even Allardyce who bought him said after he had been here a couple of weeks that he wasnt sure about Tosun.
Ajay Gopal
27 Posted 10/09/2020 at 14:07:01
The takeaway for me from this news post is that Ancelotti calls him every day and asks how he is doing. Now, that is impressive as it tells me that (a) Ancelotti is a genuinely nice guy, unlike that a**ehole - Koeman and (b) there may be life for Tosun if he can fully recover and get his fitness back. It was real bad luck for him (and EFC) with his injury at Crystal Palace, because the fans had started warming up to him because of his goals and performances, and I am pretty sure Hodgson would have made an offer to buy him. But the infamous Everton injury curse that seems to be hanging over this club for the past 5-6 years in particular, put paid to that possibility.
Justin Doone
28 Posted 10/09/2020 at 14:18:42
He's not good enough for top 4 ambitions but is a proper striker. Probably the best finisher, (% shots on target) we had.

He struggled in our team in the Prem because he lacks pace & work rate and isn't big or strong enough for a target man.

I wish him a speedy recovery. With better and more energetic players around him he could prove to be a good player.

If not we sell in January, £10M will do.

Steve Ferns
29 Posted 10/09/2020 at 14:21:40
Ajay, I think there is a clear difference between Koeman and Ancelotti. Ancelotti was a player who achieved great things, rather than a great player. He had to work hard, was never the star, was always at risk of being replaced in the side, and had to be a real team player. Koeman worked hard, no doubt about that, but he was a superstar, even at Barca, he was a standout player. So he took that arrogance into management, whereas Carlo took his qualities into management, and so it continued. Carlo a manager who achieved great things, but was still at risk of the sack. He has his feet on the ground and works hard. He can relate to his players, because he can put himself in their position. He worked with superstars and he knows how to massage their egos and get the best out of them.

Koeman might have a great football brain. He could be a great manager, because he is an excellent tactician. I think we saw more than a few glimpses of this as he shifted formations and systems mid-games and outfoxed the likes of Guardiola. But Koeman seems to have none of Ancelotti's people skills or charm. It's like that Superstar ego, that Ancelotti clearly lacks, is very much intact, and it gets in the way of him being a good manager. The question is, can he manage superstars better? I think he might be able to get a tune out of Barca, particularly their Dutch contingent, because he can relate to superstar players and get them to see his vision of play in the way he struggled with our mediocre players. It will certainly be interesting watch Barca this season, particularly the Classico when two great football minds come head to head. I think Koeman has a better grasp of tactics than Zidane, but Zidane can see things others can't and he can effect games in a major way, which is why he's one of the greatest cup managers of all time, he's just so good head-to-head, as shown by his amazing 3 CL wins in his first 3 seasons as a manager, but yet only one league title in those 3 years.

Jamie Crowley
30 Posted 10/09/2020 at 14:34:12
Ancelotti understands something many fans forget. Every player at this level has filthy talent. They are a step above 99% of the horde.

Ancelotti recognizes this, and the drive each player has to make footballing a career. So even if the player isn't of the quality or standard Carlo wants, he has the wherewithal to treat them like human beings, pay attention to them and their needs, and make sure they end up in a place where they can realize their footballing ambitions to the best of his ability.

So when he speaks to or of Tosun, or any other player he works with, even if they aren't in his plans he tries to work with them, improve them, and put them in an environment for success.

I firmly believe this, and it's one of the reasons I think Carlo is so well liked in the footballing world. It's also a very selfless way to manage. He does put the desires and needs of his players at least at equal footing as his own needs. Whereas so many managers treat players like cattle. If they are good enough they love them, but cast off and treat those who don't quite have the talent like shit.

Carlo is a gem. He's just a good dude who's got his head screwed on straight.

In my opinion.

Mark Andersson
31 Posted 10/09/2020 at 19:55:33
Hope he makes a speedy recovery and enjoys his football again with us if Carlo thinks he can do a job..
Anthony Hawkins
32 Posted 10/09/2020 at 21:02:50
The real challenge now is encouraging the poorer players to leave. It’s not just the fans who will be building excitement for the future. The players will be too.
Si Cooper
33 Posted 11/09/2020 at 02:16:06
Jamie C, I must admit I don’t know enough about Ancelotti to know whether you have hit the nail on the head, but it certainly rings true.
Don Alexander
34 Posted 11/09/2020 at 03:01:27
Ancelotti has every ball rolling in HIS court.

Credit in small measure to Moshiri for hopefully initiating his three year project four years after he first mortifyingly announced it, by way of signing a few players hardly any other top six contenders, if any at all, were interested in. Hopefully whoever's responsible for advising him, again, will tread new ground by for once improving the team and our results, and our standing in the world of football. Whether it's Ancelotti and/or Brands is irrelevant to me.

Cheers Kenwright.

You must be very rich given your useless tenure that's so much denigrated our standing, world-wide, for decades.

Si Cooper
35 Posted 11/09/2020 at 11:08:07
Don, we specifically needed a re-imagining of our midfield, with pace power and ball winning ability being particularly sought after traits.
Which of the top six clubs were in a similar predicament and how many midfielders have they bought between them?
To suggest our recruits just weren’t really fancied by any of the top six clubs is just not substantiated.
Terry Farrell
36 Posted 11/09/2020 at 14:07:03
Jamie that was very well put. I was disgusted that we turned on Koeman but he oversaw the worst waste of money I can think of! Carlo is a gem and its another stella manager at our club.
Chris Mason
37 Posted 12/09/2020 at 23:59:33
Like others on here I think Tosun will fare very well with better service. He’s a better (and more experienced) poacher than Calvert Lewin, and adds something extra to our attack.

If he gets fits and plays well, maybe it enhances his transfer mid year. If maybe not!

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