Huge wage increase on cards as West Ham United and Tottenham chase Kerem Akturkoglu after Galatasaray offer snubbed
West Ham could now boost Kerem Akturkoglu’s wages to over €2million a year [£1.74m] after he ignored an offer from Galatasaray to more than triple his current pay, according to FotoSpor.
The Turkish outlet reported via their website on 19 October that both the Hammers and Tottenham are in the hunt to give the 24-year-old attacker a major uplift if they make offers to sign him.
Akturkoglu was offered a deal worth 30million Turkish lira [£883,675] but reportedly “neither [he] nor his agent even listened to this offer” despite it being worth more than three times his current deal which expires in June 2026.
The Turkish international “star” may be in line for another offer from his current club of 50m Turkish lira [£1.47m] but both West Ham and Tottenham have been named as in the frame to blow that offer out of the water with as much as €2.5m [£2.17m].
Undervalued
For a player who has 25 national team caps and has been in such strong form for his club it is clear that Akturkoglu is currently underpaid and in line to earn far more sooner or later.
Five goals and seven assists across all competitions already from his wide spot, including a strike in the 3-2 Galatasaray victory at Manchester United on 3 October, means it is no surprise there is Premier League interest.
Even the suggested amount that the Irons and their London rivals would be willing to pay sounds cheap by today’s standards as it works out to little over £40k-a-week.
David Moyes may currently be pretty well stocked with the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Muhammed Kudus but behind them the likes of Said Berahma and Maxwel Cornet are either inconsistent or don’t appear to have the manager’s trust.
So if the Hammers could convince the Turk that the London Stadium was the right next step for him he might be an affordable option.
But with Spurs already also on the trail and that race only likely to get wider it may be easier said than done if he keeps up his current form.
In other West Ham news, a TNT Sport journalist was left baffled after claiming “David Moyes had a go at me”.