Liam Rosenior addresses Ozan Tufan’s Hull City future amid fresh Besiktas transfer links | OneFootball

Hull City underwent a major transformation of their playing squad over the summer, with many international players arriving at the MKM Stadium for new owner Acun Ilicali.

One of those was Ozan Tufan, who when he arrived in East Riding of Yorkshire had 65 international caps for Türkiye to his name.

The midfielder had gained a name for himself with Fenerbahce, who he played 133 times for in the Turkish Super Lig but also spent a brief period on loan in England at Watford last season in the Premier League – a deal which was terminated earlier than it was supposed to last.

Tufan though was a marquee signing for the Tigers earlier this year and has scored four times in 20 league appearances – he is yet to start a match under new head coach Liam Rosenior though with other players preferred.

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And amid new transfer claims ahead of the January transfer window that suggest Turkish giants Besiktas want to bring Tufan back to his home country next month, Rosenior has signalled his intentions to keep the 27-year-old on board, although he did not categorically rule out a departure.

“He’s definitely in my thoughts and he has been since I’ve been here,” Rosenior told HullLive at the weekend following Tufan’s goal in the 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

“How long’s a piece of string? I don’t know how much a bid comes in for, I can’t work on ‘what ifs’.

“Each bid we get for any player, we’ll analyse, we’ll look at it as a club and decide what the right thing to do is.

“He’s got so much quality and I love working with him.

“He’s come a really far in a short space of time in terms of understanding the way I want to play, so he’s a real asset to us and we’ll see what happens in January.”

The Verdict

Tufan is quite clearly a talented player and his 65 caps for Türkiye show that, but there is also fitness issues to contend with when it comes to him.

He no doubt has technical quality though, especially at Championship level, and it would be a shame to see him depart in January.

However, Rosenior has talked about trimming the squad time and time again, and if he’s not going to consistently start Tufan, then it could be best for all parties if Hull recoup some, if not all of the £3 million that they paid Fenerbahce for his services.

The recent Besiktas link as well could be an enticing one for Tufan too, who would be returning to his home nation and he could potentially force his way back into the national team – let’s see if they pay the money needed in January.