mawspurs
29-11-2006, 08:00 AM
Hertha Berlin's playmaker Yildiray Basturk has indicated for the first time that, following interest from Tottenham Hotspur, he could be interested in a move to the Premiership when his contract expires at the end of the Bundesliga season.
Source: The Guardian
The Turkey midfielder, who has spent his entire playing career in Germany, admitted yesterday: "At 28 years of age it could be time to seek a fresh challenge elsewhere. I've always thought about playing abroad . . . and the Premiership could certainly be interesting.'
Tottenham scouts were spotted at Hertha's game at Energie Cottbus last month, when Basturk was forced off after 28 minutes with a calf injury.
Despite initially playing down a possible move - insisting he was "sure they [Tottenham scouts] were here to look at someone else" - his change of heart will certainly be of interest to Martin Jol, who will be acutely aware of the prospect of rekindling Basturk's productive association with Dimitar Bebatov that served Bayer Leverkusen so well in 2004.
But Tottenham will face stiff competition for his signature. Hertha's coach, Falko Götz, is desperate to hold on to the club's 2005-06 player of the year. He insisted no formal enquiry has been made and added: "Here we can offer him a great city and a club with a great future with whom he has been so far entirely content. Not only that but here he is a team leader. And he knows that."
However, Basturk's apparent wish to leave for new challenges, coupled with Hertha's reported record loss of €13.9m [£9.4m] in the past year, seem to indicate that a big-money Premiership offer could be too good to turn down.
After playing in the Champions League final in 2002 with Leverkusen, Basturk has become increasingly frustrated with the lack of European football at Hertha, the Berlin side having been knocked out in the first round of this season's Uefa Cup by Denmark's Odense BK.
Source: The Guardian
The Turkey midfielder, who has spent his entire playing career in Germany, admitted yesterday: "At 28 years of age it could be time to seek a fresh challenge elsewhere. I've always thought about playing abroad . . . and the Premiership could certainly be interesting.'
Tottenham scouts were spotted at Hertha's game at Energie Cottbus last month, when Basturk was forced off after 28 minutes with a calf injury.
Despite initially playing down a possible move - insisting he was "sure they [Tottenham scouts] were here to look at someone else" - his change of heart will certainly be of interest to Martin Jol, who will be acutely aware of the prospect of rekindling Basturk's productive association with Dimitar Bebatov that served Bayer Leverkusen so well in 2004.
But Tottenham will face stiff competition for his signature. Hertha's coach, Falko Götz, is desperate to hold on to the club's 2005-06 player of the year. He insisted no formal enquiry has been made and added: "Here we can offer him a great city and a club with a great future with whom he has been so far entirely content. Not only that but here he is a team leader. And he knows that."
However, Basturk's apparent wish to leave for new challenges, coupled with Hertha's reported record loss of €13.9m [£9.4m] in the past year, seem to indicate that a big-money Premiership offer could be too good to turn down.
After playing in the Champions League final in 2002 with Leverkusen, Basturk has become increasingly frustrated with the lack of European football at Hertha, the Berlin side having been knocked out in the first round of this season's Uefa Cup by Denmark's Odense BK.