Turkish Football And The Dawn of a New Era
With all of the end of season excitement going on currently, the...
The German joined Liverpool two years ago on a fee a little over €6m from FC Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga, but has been unable to establish himself under Jürgen Klopp as the undisputed number one. With the transfer of Alisson Becker from AS Roma this Summer, Liverpool were looking to cut either Simon Mignolet or Loris Karius from their squad.
Beşiktaş had shown interest earlier in the window in Belgian international goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, but were unwilling to match Liverpool’s steep asking price, while the Reds in turn weren’t willing to let Mignolet go out on loan.
But when it came to the 25-year old Loris Karius, Liverpool were more willing to negotiate and to send him out on loan initially.
Beşiktaş have agreed on a 2-year loan deal with Liverpool, for which they will pay the English side a fee of €2,5m. In addition Beşiktaş have an obligatory buyout clause after those two seasons for an additional €8m if certain performance related criteria are met, such as Beşiktaş qualifying for Europe in addition to a set amount of appearances made by the player.
Beşiktaş were looking for a replacement to Fabricio Ramirez who joined Fulham earlier this Summer on a transfer worth €6m. Tolga Zengin has temporarily stept in as the starting keeper, but at 35 he is no longer looked at as a vialbe long-term candidate for the number 1 position at Beşiktaş.
Without his now infamous glaring errors in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, Karius might still be Liverpool’s first choice goalkeeper. One man’s loss is another man’s gain. Welcome to Beşiktaş Loris Karius!
According to daily newspaper Sabah there will also be a €25m buyout clause included in Loris Karius’ contract should the move become permanent. In addition, Liverpool will receive 20% of the next sale.
BIP Spor are reporting that Beşiktaş have agreed on a €1,4m annual wage with the player.
While both English and Turkish sources have widely confirmed the move at this point, including the likes of the Liverpool Echo, the Mirror, Haber1903 and beIN SPORTS. We are yet to learn about Karius’ expected time of arrival, when he will undergo his medical or when the official signing ceremony will take place.
So stay tuned for more updates on this front and please tune in to The Black Eagles podcast for more in depth information in the coming days, aswell as a player evaluation with a Liverpool expert once the deal has been made official.