Kyle Walker-Peters is the clear frontrunner to land a Besiktas opportunity but Southampton will be reminded of an £8m rejection in the process.
Ten days ago, Southampton fans were rooting for their former fullback Kyle Walker-Peters to surpass fellow free agent Nelson Semedo for a Besiktas opportunity. Well, unbiased fans might have deemed that a close competition but the bottom line is that Walker-Peters' victory is all but confirmed.
As indicated by Saints Extra, Besiktas have decided to move forward with the 28-year-old's signing which leaves Semedo waiting a bit longer for his new team. Still, some Saints fans would have noticed that Southampton is the biggest loser from this outcome, instead of the Portuguese international.
Ideally, Walker-Peters snubbing English teams for an abroad transfer would have been a perfect scenario for the Saints but his Turkish preference will remind them of an old rejection.
Saints had to wave half-hearted goodbye to £8m paycheck
During the deadline week of the January transfer window, Walker-Peters was the centre of Turkish transfer attention and arguably the best one from league winners Galatasaray had a significant bid on top of it. The response was already positive on Southampton's part but the Englishman remained rigid on ignoring that move.
As a result, the Saints had to part ways with an £8m paycheck which was too good to turn down for a player quickly running down his contract. Now, make no mistake, but all of his handy Premier League roles from that moment can't justify Walker-Peters' rapid decision when he had to ultimately consider the Turkish top-flight in the same year itself.
Hopefully, Southampton don't let any of their player contract situations come to that risky stage because it rarely ends well. As for Walker-Peters, let's hope he enjoys a good outing as he steps up to play away from home for the first time.