Besiktas are preparing a €10m (£8.5m) January bid for Joe Willock, the Arsenal academy graduate who left N5 for Newcastle United, and this time the clock is on their side.
The Turkish giants tried and failed to land the 27-year-old midfielder in the summer. With his contract at St James’ Park running out in June 2027, they are ready to go again when the winter window opens.
Turkish football keeps pulling big names out of the Premier League. Mohamed Salah signed a two-year deal with Trabzonspor on 6 August after leaving Liverpool, and Trabzonspor say he will earn €17m a season, while N’Golo Kante is at Fenerbahce and Leroy Sané plays for Galatasaray. Willock could be the next one through the door.
What are Besiktas planning for January?
According to Turkish outlet Aksam, Besiktas are weighing a €10m offer for Willock as soon as the window opens. The motive is simple: their midfield has been hit by injuries.
The biggest blow is to captain Orkun Kokcu, who was diagnosed with a partial tear in the sole of his right foot after coming off in the Europa League match at Hoffenheim in October. Besiktas need bodies in the middle of the park, and Willock is the name they keep coming back to.
Reports in Turkey also claim the club have already agreed personal terms with the player’s representatives. If that’s true, the hard part is no longer convincing Willock. It’s agreeing a price with Newcastle.
Why did the summer move fall through?
Besiktas were far from shy in the summer. Aksam says their offer was close to €18m, although other reports put the bid at €7m plus €5m in bonuses. Either way, it wasn’t enough.
Besiktas president Serdal Adali told Milliyet that Newcastle asked for £20m, with other reports putting the asking price at €20m. The deal stalled there, and once Matthias Jaissle arrived as head coach and made it clear he wanted Willock in his plans, Newcastle kept hold of him.
It’s a familiar Besiktas story for Arsenal fans. The Istanbul club have chased Gunners before, from the €22m bid for Leandro Trossard to the talks over Thomas Partey’s future, and they have shown again with Willock that they don’t give up easily.
Willock’s contract hands Besiktas the upper hand
The timing has swung firmly in Besiktas’ favour. Willock has eight months left on his deal, and from 1 January he is free to sign a pre-contract with a club outside England.
That changes the maths for Newcastle. Sell in January for a modest fee, or risk watching him walk out for nothing next summer. A £20m valuation looks a long way off when the player can simply agree terms for July.
Adali clearly knows it. He has said Besiktas can sign him in January, adding: “in fact, I will sign him.”
Is he playing well enough to make Newcastle think twice?
He is. Willock has started the season well and is Newcastle’s joint-top scorer with three goals, which makes Jaissle’s stance in the summer easy to understand.
He joined Arsenal at the age of four and came through the academy before moving to Newcastle on loan in January 2021. The move was later made permanent, and he has been a Newcastle player ever since.
Verdict: Willock to Besiktas feels like a matter of when
Gooners will always have a soft spot for a lad who first walked through Arsenal’s doors aged four. But this one feels like it’s heading only one way.
Besiktas have the motive, the president is talking openly about it, and the contract gives Newcastle very little leverage. Unless Willock signs a new deal on Tyneside in the next two months, €10m in January might be the best offer Newcastle get. For a club that asked for twice that in the summer, that’s a tough pill, but it beats losing him for free.
