Oguzhan Özyakup has a preliminary agreement with Besiktas over a new contract, but hasn’t signed it yet, because of Arsenal.

Reports in Turkish media suggest that Besiktas plan to run down the player’s contract before he signs a new one. Özyakup’s current deal expires in the summer of 2018, but has terms in it that would give Arsenal 30% of the proceeds if the player is ever sold.

According to Turkish outlet Hurriyet, Besiktas plan to expire Özyakup’s contract, and then re-sign him. Extending the former Gunner’s contract would keep the current re-sale clause intact, whereas re-signing him in the summer (essentially as a new player) would remove any Arsenal obligations from the situation.

The plan makes sense, but it is a bit of a risky strategy. Whatever “preliminary agreement” Besiktas have with Özyakup can’t be legally binding, or it would just be a new contract. So they’re trusting him not to decide he’d rather head off somewhere else for free as soon as summer arrives.

Any foreign club could try and sign a pre-contract agreement with the 25-year-old in January, or any time before the 30th June 2018 when his current deal expires.

If I were Arsenal, I’d be making an offer. If you convince him to join for free, you can either sell back to a desperate Besiktas, keep him, or sell him on. Plus it would ruin their plan to screw the Gunners over, and that’s always nice.