Man United are getting close to securing the services of towering Dutch forward Wout Weghorst on loan. However, his current club – Besiktas – have demands they want met before allowing him to leave.
Currently, Weghorst is on loan at the Turkish giants from Burnley. Following the Lancashire club’s relegation to the Championship last season, Weghorst forced his way out, on a temporary basis, to Besiktas.
But now he could be on the move again. After Cristiano Ronaldo’s unceremonious exit from Man United, the Red Devils identified Wout Weghorst as a short-term replacement. He would likely serve as a backup to Martial during his potential loan spell– although Erik ten Hag is a fan of his compatriot.
Ten Hag needs more depth at the striker position, and Weghorst offers a different option. He is an imposing, hardworking presence when leading an attack, and comes with an established goal record.
Per Fabrizio Romano, Weghorst is desperate to get this move through. As a result, United are working with Burnley and loanees Besiktas in order to thrash out a deal. But the Turkish side want compensation if they have to cut their loan deal with Weghorst short.
Besiktas’ requirements before letting Wout Weghorst join Man United
The forward has irked his current side with his actions on the weekend. At Besiktas’ most recent game, Weghorst apparently waved “goodbye” to the fans as part of his goal celebration. He scored his side’s second goal during a 2-1 win over Kasimpasa on Saturday.
This farewell did not go down well with club director Ceyhun Kazanci.
“I don’t understand why Weghorst said goodbye to the fans,” fumed Kazanci, quoted via The Mirror. “He is our football player right now. Our contract expires at the end of this season.
“If Man United or any team wants Wout Weghorst, they will meet with Burnley anyway. Burnley will then contact us and discuss terms of separation. If we accept, we will terminate the contract. Otherwise, it will go on until the end of the season.
“He can’t just go – there will have to be a reward for us to approve the separation.”
Besiktas will clearly need to receive reparations before agreeing to end Weghorst’s loan spell in Turkey. Secondly, The Mirror claim that the club would like to have a replacement lined up before Weghorst goes.
Vincent Aboubakar, who used to play for Besiktas, could be an option. He will likely be on the lookout for a club as he is reportedly leaving Al Nassr. Ironically, Cristiano Ronaldo has forced Aboubakar’s exit.
So, Cristiano Ronaldo replaces Aboubakar at Al Nassr, who could replace Weghorst at Besiktas, who is set to replace Ronaldo at Man United. A perfectly circular piece of transfer business, isn’t it?
In the Red Devils’ case, they will be getting a solid goal scorer in European football to boost their ranks.
Weghorst’s career so far
Unsurprisingly, the big man’s career began in his homeland of the Netherlands. After stints at the likes of FC Emmen and Heracles Almelo, Weghorst really made an impression at AZ Alkmaar.
During his best season at Alkmaar, he registered 18 goals and six assists in the Eredivisie. This earned him a move to Wolfsburg in 2018, where he continued to show his goalscoring credentials.
A 17-goal debut Bundesliga season started three consecutive campaigns of 15+ league goals. In his last full season in Germany – 2020/21 – Weghorst found the net on a career-best 20 occasions.
In January 2022, the Dutchman moved to Burnley. The Lancashire side snapped up Weghorst with the hope that he could fire them to safety in the Premier league.
Unfortunately, this was not the case. Weghorst scored just twice in 20 league appearances as Burnley saw themselves relegated. He then joined Besiktas on loan, where he has eight goals from 16 appearances so far this season.
Weghorst has five goals from 19 total caps for his national team. Most memorably, two of these strikes came in the Netherlands’ thrilling World Cup quarterfinal with Argentina. At 2-0 down, Weghorst came on as a sub to bag a brace and send the match to pens. Despite scoring his spot-kick, Argentina emerged victorious from the shootout.
Although arguably an atypical player for Erik ten Hag’s style, it could be interesting to see how Wout Weghorst would work at Man United.
Featured image credit: Getty
