Tosun hopes to emulate hero Batistuta
Cenk Tosun is ready to help Everton step out of the shadow of Romelu Lukaku’s departure.
Since Lukaku’s £75 million sale to Manchester United, Everton have been bereft of forward options, the inexperienced Dominic Calvertlewin admirably trying to fill the void. Failure to replace Lukaku effectively cost Ronald Koeman his job. Tosun – signed for what Everton say is £20 million from Besiktas – does not want to be compared to the United striker, but welcomes the responsibility of restoring the side’s attacking threat.
“Of course, otherwise I would not be here. Of course I think I can do it,” he said. “Lukaku has done really well here but I am hoping to score as many goals as I can and do well. It doesn’t put a lot of pressure on me. It is a great honour. I would like to become a great role model for all the other players in Turkey.
“I regard this league as the best in the world. It is fast and strong here and the ball is always moving. My character as a player is suitable to this kind of football.”
Tosun opted for an illustrious name when describing the striker he worshipped most when honing his craft as a goalscorer in Turkey.
“Gabriel Batistuta was one of my idols. I loved his playing style,” he said. “He was a great header of the ball. There is a saying he could shoot with his head. I think there are similarities between my style and his.”
Sam Allardyce would welcome a touch of that class in his line-up. He
Big ambition: Cenk Tosun aims to make as big an impact as Romelu Lukaku has done considers the Tosun capture a coup, especially as he convinced the 26-year-old to surrender a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
“We had a great group stage with Besiktas and played really well. Then we got Bayern Munich,” said Tosun. “I could have stayed until the end of the year and got those games under my belt but the manager here wanted me really badly so that played a big role. It’s good I came now. Everton played in the Europa League this year. There are a lot of teams from England trying to go to the Champions League. Our aim should be to be in Europe every year. I think the squad has that potential, so it will be great to play in Europe with Everton.
“Everyone needs a new mission and target in life and mine was to play in the Premier League. The main aim is to take the team to a better place and score as many goals as I can. This year, it is to get into the top half of the table. Seventh or eighth would be good for us this season.”
Although he represents Turkey, Tosun – who said the phonetic pronunciation of his first name was “Jenk” – was born in Germany, where he began his career at Eintracht Frankfurt. He was unable to forge a career in the Bundesliga, putting that down to inexperience.
“I think by playing for Germany from under-15s to under-21s, I did quite well, but at Frankfurt there were already players who were playing for national teams, so the breakthrough was difficult,” he said. “I thought it was better to try to get where I wanted by going to Turkey and playing there. That is what I did and what I have done.”