Home / Exclusives / Editorials / Besiktas look to start a new chapter with a new captain to steer the ship

Besiktas look to start a new chapter with a new captain to steer the ship

By
Updated: May 28, 2019

For the second season in a row Besiktas have finished outside the top two, which means they will once again miss out on Champions League football and, more importantly, the coveted prize and TV money associated with said competition.

Instead Besiktas will once again take part in UEFA’s Europa League, a competition they were unceremoniously dumped out from this past season by losing 0-1 against Malmö on the final matchday of the group stages. But also a competition in which they missed out on the semi-finals by a hair, when they lost to Olympique Lyon on penalties back in the 2016-2017 season.

The biggest question mark heading into the Summer is however, who will be in charge at the club for the next season? As we had previously reported Besiktas were very close to reaching an agreement with experienced Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu, who had already coached the Black Eagles between 2002 and 2004. But we can now report that Lucescu was basically put on hold over the past week, as he was asked to “wait”, despite an agreement being in place.

It has since become clear why that is, Besiktas are reportedly in talks with Basaksehir’s Abdullah Avci, who following Basaksehir’s failure to capture the title has now seemingly become a possibility.

Basaksehir club president Göksel Gümusdag revealed on wednesday that once the season was over they’d “sit down” with their coach to “discuss his future”, but he said so in a way that suggested Basaksehir would not stand in his way should he want to opt to take that next step in his coaching career.

In the meantime, Besiktas have already started preliminary talks with potential transfer targets for this Summer, Duhuliye are reporting that Besiktas have already approached Genoa’s Serbian winger Darko Lazovic (28) who featured in 34 Serie A matches this season, scoring 3 goals and providing 4 assists. Besides the odds and predictions from online betting sites in the UK on who will be the next Besiktas coach, there is also the question of Loris Karius and whether he’ll stay with the Black Eagles or not.

We will be sitting down with DZAN Italy’s Bruno Bottaro for the Black Eagles podcast in the coming days to get his insights on Abdullah Avci’s coaching philosophies. We may also sit down with FIFA.com’s Sonja Nikcevic again should the Darko Lazovic rumours intensify. 0

Kaan Bayazit
Follow me

Kaan Bayazit

Editor-in-chief at Beşiktaş International
Freelance sports writer specialized in Turkish football and Beşiktaş. Co-host of the Black Eagles podcast. Frequently featured in World Soccer Digest Japan and many other international media outlets. Following Turkish football for close to two decades. Proud father to Aedin.
Kaan Bayazit
Follow me

Latest posts by Kaan Bayazit (see all)

Related Posts