Ligue 1 side Marseille are preparing a bid for former Arsenal youngster Oguzhan Ozyakup.

  • Besiktas want £17.6m for the midfielder
  • West Ham and Arsenal have been linked
  • Arsenal scouted Ozyakup heavily last season

Ozyakup left Arsenal in 2012 for more first team opportunities and has done very well for himself in Turkey. He’s won two league titles with Besiktas and is now attracting interest from around Europe.

According to reports, Marseille are the latest side to register an interest and are willing to offer £8.8m for the midfielder. However, Besiktas will not accept anything under £17.6m.

West Ham are another side who have been heavily linked as their manager, Slaven Bilic, worked with Ozyakup when he was managing Besiktas. Unsurprisingly, Arsenal have also been linked with a move for their former player.

Arsenal scouts watched Ozyakup closely last season. One scout, Jurgen Kost, admitted he could be considered if Arsenal are in the market for a central midfielder.

“Ozyakup is a player we have been closely tracking and when we do our next search for players in his position there is a possibility he will return to Arsenal,” he said.