Sunday, July 18, 2021 at 09:21

Rik Elfrink denies that there is any contact between Luuk de Jong and Besiktas. Fotomaç reported on Saturday that Sevilla has almost agreed with the champion of Turkey about a rental period for the thirty-year-old striker, who would personally already make preparations for a trip to Istanbul. The PSV watcher of the Eindhovens Dagblad writes on Twitter that a transfer to Besiktas is not as concrete as is reported in Turkey and that the people of Eindhoven are still in contact with him.

“Many questions about De Jong. Both from Besiktas and Luuk de Jong’s surroundings there are sounds that there has been no contact until now. De Jong is working hard on his return in Spain. The prognosis is that it will take a few more weeks. PSV kept and will keep in touch with him on a regular basis,” Elfrink writes on Twitter. Two months ago it became clear that PSV was also thinking about his arrival. The number two of the past Eredivisie season investigated the possibility of bringing the striker back to Eindhoven on a rental basis.

Last Saturday, however, PSV technical manager John de Jong informed the Eindhovens Dagblad that De Jong was not on his way to the Netherlands. “We are not really working on Luuk de Jong at the moment,” said De Jong. “We all think he is a very good player, but I can strike at several players if they have Luuk’s qualities. Luuk is of course an ambassador from our club and has accomplished a lot here.” The Telegraph reported that De Jong would only come into the picture if Donyell Malen is sold.

Sevilla paid 12.5 million euros in the summer of 2019 to take over De Jong from PSV. However, he never became an undisputed starting player in Spain, although he did become the big man in the Europa League final against Internazionale last season with two goals. In the past year, De Jong lost the competition with club top scorer Youssef En-Nesyri.

The striker was used as a basic player fourteen times throughout the season, but since March that has only happened four times. In addition, De Jong was only on the field once for ninety minutes in LaLiga. De Jong is currently still recovering from the knee injury he sustained during the European Championship, which forced him to leave the the Dutch training camp prematurely. His contract with Sevilla will continue until mid-2023.