Everton Remain Hopeful Over £30m Tosun Deal as Besiktas President Reveals Rejected Chinese Bid

Everton remain hopeful of completing a reported £30m deal for Cenk Tosun on Wednesday despite Besiktas' president warning the Toffees to pay the strikers' going rate.

A delegation of Everton officials will allegedly meet with the Turkish side's president Fikret Orman in London on Wednesday in a bid to thrash out a deal for Tosun, according to the Guardian.

However, Orman has urged the Blues to stump up the 26-year-old's asking price as soon as possible (via the Liverpool Echo) after he revealed that Besiktas had already rejected a £30m bid from an unnamed Chinese Super League club for the prolific frontman.

BORIS HORVAT/GettyImages

Orman said: "A 35 million Euro bid came from China but we did not bring it up. However due to his willingness to play, we have not brought it up.

"Cenk Tosun's future is important for us. There is no finished situation right now. If the conditions are what we want the transfer takes place."

Everton's director of football Steve Walsh had flown out to Turkey to try and tie up all of the loose ends over the deal last weekend.

The club's manager Sam Allardyce is also thought to have gotten in on the act to try and get the transfer over the line too, with football pundit Serdar Saridag telling Turkish TV station A Spor (h/t Turkish Football) that the 63-year-old had phoned Tosun personally to convince him to move to Goodison Park.

Saridag remarked: “Sam Allardyce phoned Cenk directly.  Sam told Cenk he wants him at Everton and went over where he fits in his plans.

OZAN KOSE/GettyImages

(You may also be interested in Allardyce Admits Need for New Striker Following 2-0 Loss to Manchester United)

“It is a really important development. Sam has made it clear to Cenk he values him I think it could be decisive.”

The growing transfer saga has left Evertonians sweating over Tosun's arrival after reports in late December had suggested a move to Merseyside for the goalscorer was close.

Tosun was said to have flown in to Liverpool to shake hands on a four-and-a-half year deal after undergoing a medical at the club's USM Finch Farm training complex last Wednesday.

Since then, however, Besiktas have begun playing hardball and Allardyce admitted that Everton had done all they could to persuade Tosun to join them in the January window.