Reports by FotoMac earlier this week claimed Besiktas are already lining up replacements for Cenk Tosun, which will come as a huge blow for Marcel Brands as Everton strive to find a potential suitor this summer.

The Toffees are thought to be open to offers for Tosun at the end of the season as he will enter the final year of his contract in June, and efforts are being made to find new clubs for those out of favour under Carlo Ancelotti.

Tosun made just seven appearances and scored once across all competitions for Everton this season before joining Besiktas on loan during the winter transfer market, but the Super Lig giants do not feel the Turkey international has been a success back at Vodafone Park.

Tosun has featured on only two occasions since heading back to Istanbul three years after leaving the club in a £27m deal to join the Toffees, having struggled with a knee injury and fitness issues.

Everton would likely have hoped to see Tosun hit the ground running under Sergen Yalcin to potentially seal a permanent return to his former side, or to create interest from alternative suitors in a forward Darren Bent claims “just hasn’t worked out” for the Goodison Park side.

But the Besiktas management have now turned their attentions away from Tosun and have already held preliminary discussions with Dynamo Kyiv striker Gerson Rodrigues.

The Black Eagles have moved to speak with the Luxembourg international as it is felt that the 25-year-old’s last-minute winner over the Republic of Ireland and goal at home to Portugal in the March international break increased his market value.

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Rodrigues now has five goals in 31 international fixtures and has scored six times in 30 games for Dynamo Kyiv across all competitions this term, including against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian Super Cup.

Besiktas’ interest in Rodrigues and stance on Tosun will be expected to see the 29-year-old return to Everton at the end of the season to face an uncertain future, with a year remaining on his £60,000-per-week contract.

Besiktas’ position will come as a blow for Brands, also, as the Blues’ Director of Football will have to scour the market for striker-hungry sides willing to sign a forward who has only played a combined nine times since returning from cruciate ligament surgery in November.

Everton will no doubt fear Tosun now becoming the second-coming of Yannick Bolasie, who is due to leave the Merseysiders this summer on a free transfer once his £75k-p/w deal expires.

The Toffees had long sought to sell Bolasie and included a €4m (£3.5m) option for Sporting CP to purchase the DR Congo international in their loan agreement for the 2019/20 season, but the Liga NOS giants chose against taking up the clause.

As Ancelotti did not expect Bolasie to play a role in his plans for the current season, either, reports suggested a £3m fee would have been enough to sign the 31-year-old last summer, which dropped to just £2m in January on a player they paid Crystal Palace £25m for in 2016.

Everton now have a difficult few months ahead of them assessing where to value Tosun in the summer market, having demanded £20m from Crystal Palace last year, knowing the risk that pricing him out of a move will carry.

AND in other news, Everton have landed a huge boost in the race to sign a £20m “victim of circumstance”