Arsenal have decided to sell another of their young star players, as Oguzhan Ozyakup will go to Besiktas, a move which the Turkish side has confirmed.
Arsenal have decided to release seven players already once their contracts expire on June 30 and Ozyakup becomes the latest youngster to head out of the London club this summer. Manuel Almunia, George Brislen-Hall, Gavin Hoyte, Sean McDermott, Rhys Murphy, James Campbell and Jeffrey Monakana were not offered a contract extension at the Emirates after the Arsenal manager decided to get rid of the deadwood. Surprisingly though, barring Almunia who has made close 170 appearances for the club the rest of them haven’t had much chance to show their worth in the first team.
Ozyakup made his first team debut during a Carling Cup fixture against Shrewsbury and chipped in with an assist for Yossi Benayoun. He also came on as a substitute during the Gunners’ 8-2 embarrassing defeat to Manchester United last season. According to the deal, Arsenal are going to get sell-on percentage of 20% if the player makes a move from Besiktas in future which is a clear indication that Arsene Wenger does consider him to be a quality player.
The talented 19 year old has apparently decided to move due to lack of first team action at Arsenal. This has been the story at Arsenal for quite a few years now, Wenger signs young players with potential, only to ship them off in a few years time. With so many departures of players from the club this season, Wenger might be considering to reconstruct his wage bill, and perhaps we can see a few top signings coming in. Or will it be another overpriced young talent with a potential good resell value?