Will it be Turkish delight as duo eye move for Ayew?
Turkish giants Besiktas and Galatasaray are eyeing up a loan deal for Swansea City’s record signing Andre Ayew.
The Ghanaian only rejoined the Swans for a £18million fee in January, but failed to register a single goal as the club were relegated from the Premier League.
His status as one of the club’s higher earners meant the Welsh club were always likely to look for potential suitors this summer, and it is understood an approach has been received from the Turkish sides, both of whom have enquired about taking the former West Ham man on a season-long loan.
There has yet to be a firm approach but the 28-year-old is understood to want out at the Liberty Stadium, and the club will not stand in his way as they seek to try to move several firstteam players on as new manager Graham Potter seeks to mould his first-team squad ahead of the start of the Championship campaign.
Galatasaray were interested in a move for Ayew in January, eventually missing out to Swansea, and it comes as little surprise that they have revived that interest.
Were Ayew to move there he would be reunited with his former Swansea team-mate Bafetimbi Gomis, who scored 29 goals in 33 appearances to help them secure the Super Lig title and secure a place in the group stages of the Champions League.
Besiktas, meanwhile, finished fourth - just four points off top spot to qualify for the preliminary rounds of the Europa League.
Swansea also expect to lose Andre’s brother Jordan, who has already been the subject of a rejected bid from newly-promoted Fulham and was the club’s top scorer last term with 11 in all competitions.
Wilfried Bony and Luciano Narsingh have also been linked with moves to Turkey.
Lukasz Fabianski and Roque Mesa have already left, signing for West Ham and Sevilla respectively , although Swansea have yet to make a senior signing this summer, with Yan Dhanda and Jordi Govea initially signed for the under-23 set-up.
Speaking last week, Potter had outlined that it will take more than one transfer window for Swansea to get the squad in the sort of shape they would ideally like.
“I don’t think everything can be fixed in one go, it would be unrealistic to say that. We have to make the right decisions, and not quick and easy ones,” said the 43-year-old.
“We have to be responsible. We have a short-term need to be competitive in the Championship, but there is also a longer-term rebuilding process.
“There are Premier League players and contracts that are not sustainable for the long-term future of the club.
“”But it is not as simple as saying players have to leave before others come in, but I will use the word ‘restructuring’ again. There will be a bit of that, players careers and the market will dictate that.
“It would also be unfair of me to make judgments of players based on the last three years because it has been a negative pressure-cooker situation, so I want to make decisions based on what I see.
“We have got some talent here, lots of players that are keen to show they can enjoy their football and perform well.
“That’s our job, to help them do that.”
Swansea kick off their pre-season campaign at Yeovil on Tuesday night.