Who is…the incoming West Ham loan out to prove Chelsea wrong?
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After a nomadic journey from Germany to England, back to Germany before Russia then Turkey, 24-year-old Besiktas wideman Gokhan Tore is thought to be on the move again, with West Ham reportedly close to sealing their fifth signing of the summer on a season-long loan.
They’ll be getting a man in fine fettle at club level, if not on the international scene, as Tore has either assisted a goal or scored 19 times in his last 52 Turkish Super Lig appearances over the past two seasons, which isn’t bad going at any level.
However, a return of no goals in 26 caps for Turkey, his adopted country having been born in Germany, meant there was no place in Fatih Terim’s 23-man squad ahead of Euro 2016 for Tore, who was cut along with eight others before final declarations.
Former Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen spotted Tore in Bayer Leverkusen’s youth ranks seven years ago, snapped him up for the Blues’ reserves and then took him to Hamburg, along with teammates Michael Mancienne and Jacopo Sala, in 2011.
The Cologne native barely played for Rubin Kazan after moving to the Tatarstan-based side in 2012, ending up on loan at Besiktas a year later before making a permanent switch in the summer of 2014, for a fee thought to be in the region of £3m.
Sky Sports believe Tore’s value has more than trebled since, with West Ham reportedly obliged to pay £10m for his services next summer, should they take up the option of a permanent switch after the mooted nine-month audition.
According to respected stats website Squawka.com, Tore’s Super Lig pass accuracy improved from 80% in 2014/15 to 83% over last term, when the forward bagged as many goals and one more assist in four fewer appearances than during the previous campaign.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
