Super Lig club Besiktas appoints Yalcin as their coach, decides on Karius future; Nzonzi leaves Galatasaray.
Besiktas recently appointed former football star Sergen Yalcin to be the club’s head coach. He joins the club from Yeni Malatyaspor where he was also the coach just last year. Yalcin, now at 47 years old, was an excellent playmaker during his time at the Super Lig. He also played 37 matches for the international team but was, as his teammates describe, ‘gifted but temperamental’. As he is appointed, he replaces Abdullah Avci who was fired last January 24 after the club lost to second division football club Erzurumspor, eliminating them from the Turkish Cup.
Similarly, loanee Loris Karius is reported to return to Liverpool after his agent appears to have cut ties with Besiktas. However, sources say that the player will not leave the club in January. He will continue to play for the club until his loan contract expires at the end of the season. Reports that also say that Karius wants to leave the club are false since Besiktas wasn’t informed about anything regarding this matter.
Despite the player’s contract ending soon, the option to buy him won’t also be used by the club. This means that after his time at Besiktas, he will return to his parent club. When this does happen, the Turkish club will have ample time to find a replacement. If Karius were to leave as reports suggested, this would put Besiktas in a rather difficult situation since the transfer window is just hours away, and the possibility of them finding a replacement would be next to none.
In his time at the club, Karius has seen a steep drop in his performance, allowing 40 goals to be scored in just 25 games. As a matter of fact, the crowd was booing him during their match against Erzurumspor after he allowed a first-minute goal.
In Super Lig related news, Galatasaray midfielder Steven Nzonzi has decided to leave Istanbul to play in France, where he is expected to find a club that will take him in. He decided to leave after he was involved in a training ground bust-up which caused him to be dropped from the team. Manager Fatih Terim said that he will not play in the club again.