Newcastle and Everton to offer £42,000-a-wk deal to title-holding assist king - report
Newcastle United and Everton are set to meet Oguzhan Ozyakup's contract demands and offer him a £42,000-a-week deal, according to a report.
Turkish news outlet Fanatik claims that the two Premier League clubs are set to fight it out over signing Ozyakup, 25, on a free transfer as his contract at Besiktas is due to expire in the coming weeks.
It is understood that they will offer Ozyakup a deal worth £2.2million-a-year in order to tempt him back to England, six years after he quit Arsenal.
Since moving to Istanbul, Ozyakup has become a key player at Besiktas and helped them win the Turkish Super Lig title last season.
The midfielder has been Besiktas' assist king over the past few years, supplying 49 assists in 217 appearances across all competitions for the club, as well as scoring 27 goals.
Football Insider verdict
Ozyakup will be a great signing for whoever manages to snap him up in the summer and there's no chance that Newcastle and Everton will be the only clubs fighting for his signature after several years of pulling the strings at Besiktas. Ozyakup is a very creative central midfielder who is not afraid of getting forward and chipping in with goals too. Newcastle and Everton's issue is that both of them have a lot of central midfield options. It is arguably the strongest area of Rafa Benitez's squad while the Toffees have a lot of attack-minded and deeper-lying midfielders. Do they need Ozyakup? Not really. But they still might as well get him with low wages being demanded.
In other Newcastle United news, the Magpies are in pole position to sign this 6ft 7in colossus who has snubbed Real Madrid and Man United.