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Besiktas intend to make Arthur Masuaku’s loan deal permanent but will now attempt to get a significant discount from West Ham, according to Sabah in Turkey.
The left-back moved to the Turkish Super Lig on a season-long loan which contains an obligation to buy for €2.2million [£1.9million] if he reaches 25 appearances, after which he would sign a three-year deal, which appeared unlikely when he fractured his ankle heading into the World Cup break.
But the Democratic Republic of Congo international has had a resurgence in form in 2023 and is now just three league appearances from triggering the option, but with the threshold closing in Besiktas want to improve their terms of the deal on their end.
Sabah reported on Thursday (16 March) that they intend to now offer West Ham €1.2million [£1.05million] instead, as well as reducing the contract the 29-year-old would receive down to two years.
Moving the goalposts
This puts the Hammers in a difficult position because there looks to be zero chance of Masuaku finding his way back into the team at the London Stadium if he were to return.
Emerson arrived from Chelsea at the start of the season and looks to have taken over from Aaron Cresswell as the starter.
So if Besiktas make this offer before the 25-game mark is reached and threaten to stop playing the loanee before then it would send an unwanted player back to London and leave the club out of pocket, albeit not by a huge amount.
However, if the Turkish side want the benefit of Masuaku over the final weeks of the season, and given he has only missed two league games – one with the ankle fracture and one through suspension – it certainly looks like they need him as they battle for European qualification, then frankly they should stick to the terms of the deal.
If he appears in the required number of games then West Ham would be within their rights to insist the contract is stuck to.
On principle Besiktas would be obliged to cough up, but after five seasons and 128 Hammers appearances it may be worth finding a middle ground to prevent the defender himself from being stick in limbo, given the relatively small fees involved in real terms.