Kökcü’s departure from Benfica underway: Besiktas strike with surprise | OneFootball

Orkun Kökcü is close to a move to Beşiktaş. According to Portuguese media and Voetbal International, the Turkish club are nearing an agreement with Benfica for the former Feyenoord player.

Kökcü was already strongly linked with a move this week. While there were initially reports of interest from Inter Milan (seeing Kökcü as a Hakan Calhanoglu replacement) it soon became clear that Besiktas were the most concrete candidate for the 24-year-old Turkey midfielder.

Turkey’s third-placed side last term hadn’t expected the international to be open to a transfer, but pressed on when it became clear that this was the case. Beşiktaş are apparently Kökcü’s favourite club in Turkey, and the chairman travelled to Portugal to finalise the deal.

According to Portuguese media, Benfica only wanted to do business for a minimum fee of 30 million euros. A Bola and Record have now reached a preliminary agreement on a loan with a €25 million option to buy, plus five million euros in bonuses.

So, Kökcü’s stay at Benfica appears to be coming to an end. The Haarlem native played 98 matches for the Portuguese giants in two years, but recently clashed with manager Bruno Lage. Benfica paid Feyenoord €25 million plus bonuses in 2023, which has a 25 per cent resale percentage on profits.

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield