Turkish reports in Fanatik are today linking Liverpool with midfield dynamo Ozan Tufan, dubbed by the same paper as ‘The Next Yaya Toure’, despite the fact he hails from Istanbul and not the Ivory Coast!
Tufan shone at Euro 2016, and currently plies his trade for Fenerbahce, a side we’ve got plenty of links with having loaned Lazar Markovic there last summer and sold Martin Skrtel this.
The report suggests the 21-year-old is also interesting a number of our Premier League rivals, with his father Mehmet Tufan confirming scouts have been to watch his son.
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“Other big European teams have sent scouts to watch Ozan play – AC Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Chelsea and both Manchester clubs, City and United,” he said.
talkSPORT suggest Tufan would cost around £20m, because he has four years left on his contract, meaning he’d be more expensive than our other reported midfield target Piotr Zielinski (although likely cheaper than the so far unattainable Mahmoud Dahoud…).
Tufan prides himself on his physicality and ability to contribute in both defence and attack. In Marko Grujic though, Liverpool have signed a player of similar ilk, so if we were scouting the Turk, it appears we may have gambled on the 20-year-old Serb instead.