Why Aston Villa must avoid signing Besiktas midfielder Dorukhan Tokoz

According to a report from the Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa sent scouts to watch Besiktas vs Wolves to keep tabs on midfielder Dorukhan Tokoz.

Besiktas signed Dorukhan Tokoz from Eskisehirspor last season and he went onto become a star name for the club. He scored three goals and provided three assists in 20 league games for the Black-Whites and ended up becoming a regular call up for the Turkey national team.

And, in such a short time, the Turkish international seems to have made quite an impression, with Aston Villa casting admiring glances towards him.

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith brought in a host of new signings during the summer after the club won promotion back to the Premier League, but he is not done yet and wants further new additions. Smith is already looking to the January transfer window for reinforcements and the talented midfielder Tokoz is apparently on his list of potential targets.

The Villa tactician raided the Turkish market in the summer to bring in Egypt international Trezeguet from Kasimpasa. However, Trezeguet has not set the world alight and while there have been flashes of his potential, he is yet to fully adapt to the demands of Premier League football.

As far as Villa’s midfield is concerned, Smith has the likes of Marvelous Nakamba, Douglas Luiz, Jack Grealish, Conor Hourihane, John McGinn, Jota and Henri Lansbury at his disposal. Nakamba and Luiz are the club’s two defensive midfielders; so does it make sense for the Villans to spend big on Dorukhan Tokoz? Not really.

Tokoz is one of the best talents in Turkish football and has attracted a lot of attention from clubs across Europe. He is a combative midfielder blessed with bags of energy, technique and tackling skills. The 23-year-old has shown that he can play well as a central midfielder, while also being able to fill in as a right-back whenever required.

Despite being a real talent, Tokoz is a player Villa don’t need at the moment. Smith has a lot of options in the central midfield department and the Turkish international could find it hard to break into the starting XI.

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McGinn and Grealish have cemented their place in the team, while Hourihane made a case for himself by putting in a fantastic performance in the 5-1 victory over Norwich City. And then there are two solid options in Luiz and Nakamba in the holding role.

Verdict

Thus, it doesn’t make sense for Aston Villa to splash the cash on Tokoz and sign him. Moreover, the 23-year-old ruptured his knee cartilage at the weekend and is now facing a lengthy spell on the treatment table, thus ruling out the possibility of Villa swooping in the January window.