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You didn’t think this was going to be straight forward, did you?
Everton’s move for Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun looked to be progressing serenely amid reports a £25m fee had been agreed with the Turkish club, with the player set to move to Goodison Park on January 1.
Tosun appeared to confirm his departure by waving farewell to the Besiktas fans after Thursday’s Turkish Cup victory over Osmanlispor.
However, now it seems the transfer is further away than previously reported and may even be under threat completely.
Speaking after the game, Metin Albayrak, spokesman for the Besiktas board of directors, denied there had been an offer accepted for the 26-year-old.
Now, multiple sources including the Times, Guardian and Mirror, report that Everton director of football Steve Walsh is flying out to Turkey today to try and wrap up the deal.
That comes amid reports a number of European clubs are ready to hijack the transfer, including Roma, Valencia and RB Leipzig.
Everton boss Sam Allardyce confirmed his interest in Tosun at his pre-Bournemouth news conference but hinted that a deal was far from certain.
“It’s in the wind. There’s obviously an interest because we’re actively looking for a front man but whether we are the ones to complete that deal or not I don’t know.
“The interest from other clubs around Europe is our biggest worry if we are to secure that transfer.”
Most Evertonians are already familiar with this sort of scenario - no major transfer to the Toffees is ever straight forward.
The only hope is that by being pro-active, Walsh can fend off the interest of rival clubs and get the deal done quickly.
We desperately need to add a striker to the squad and ideally it needs to be done as early in the transfer window as possible.
If the Tosun deal does collapse then the pursuit of an alternative will likely spill into the middle of January, after which Everton will have played vital game against the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool.
Don’t Everton this up, Everton!