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Mitrovic plus cash deal for striker meeting held in London at weekend – Reports

6 years ago
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Aleksandar Mitrovic was once again left sitting on the sidelines at the weekend.

Yet to start a Premier League match this season, the Serbian striker was once again named on the bench and only brought on against Watford once the game was lost with Newcastle three down.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Mitrovic has no future at Newcastle under Rafa Benitez but despite being desperate to trade in the former Anderlecht forward and bring in his own man in the summer, the pair were left stuck with each other.

However, a solution may be at hand.

Whilst I don’t give the Turkish football media any weight in normal circumstances, they have been relentless in their reporting on Newcastle interest in Cenk Tosun.

The Turkish international has been scoring regularly for club and country and has 10 goals (all competitions) for Besiktas so far this season.

Having helped his club qualify top of their Champions League group for the knockout stage, you wouldn’t imagine he’d be keen to leave, but it is repeatedly reported that he is desperate to give the Premier League a try and that Rafa Benitez wants to accommodate that.

Not a week goes by without the Turkish media reporting Newcastle scouting the player, or meetings between clubs and/or agents, ahead of the January window.

Two separate reports now claim that a January move is progressing further and a deal could be about to be reached.

The Turkish sports newspaper Fanatik report that Newcastle are willing to offer £9m plus Aleksandar Mitrovic in return for Tosun. Giving Besiktas the chance then of a ready made replacement.

In the summer it was reported that Mitrovic had been offered to Turkish clubs but nobody was willing to pay the £16m+ Newcastle were allegedly asking for.

Meanwhile, Futbol Arena report that Besiktas sent representatives to London at the weekend where they met Aleksandar Mitrovic himself, his father, and others representing the player, with talks claimed to have been positive.

They also report that a Mitrovic plus cash deal is being proposed but with it being the Newcastle player and £7m to change hands for Cenk Tosun.

If Newcastle could indeed bring in a decent goalscorer and at the same time offset the cost by losing a player Rafa Benitez has no intention of playing if at all possible, then it would look a dream deal on the surface.

A swap type deal will also potentially help one or both clubs to save face, as it helps disguise how much exactly each of the players has been valued at in the arrangement.

Newcastle obviously massively overpaid on the £14m or so that Mitrovic cost two and  a half years ago and stand no chance of getting anywhere near that much back on him. No club making an offer to buy him in the summer and zero chance of selling if Mike Ashley was insisting on anything like the claimed £16m this summer.

With their relentless coverage of Newcastle’s supposed interest in him, even I am beginning to think this potential deal reported by Turkish media for Cenk Tosun coming to Newcastle, could have some substance.

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