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Fenerbahce are set to walk away from a deal for Sunderland winger Jeremain Lens according to reports in Turkey, but city rivals Besiktas are ready to step in.

Dutch international Lens has had a productive season-long loan at Fenerbahce. They would have liked to have kept the 29-year-old, who in turn was eager to stay. The Black Cats need to sell to make up a fraction of the huge shortfall in income as they drop from the Premier League into the Championship.

The price of making the deal permanent has long been thought to be a sticking point, with the Wearsiders desperate to raise money but Fenerbahce, who play in a far less lucrative league, sailing close to the wind when it comes to Uefa’s financial fair play regulations. It has been suggested in some quarters the price agreed in the original loan agreement automatically fell if Sunderland were relegated, and Lens said in January he hoped his parent club did drop out of the top-flight to make a move possible.

Now Turkish media outlet Sportx is reporting Fenerbahce have given up on the signing having only been able to barter the price down from £87.m to £7m. The Wearsiders paid £8m to sign him from Dynamo Kiev.

As well as the cost, coach Dick Advocaat has also left to take charge of the Netherlands national team. It was Advocaat who brought Lens to Istanbul, and before that to Wearside. He was also his coach at PSV Eindhoven.

Sportx are reporting that Advocaat’s successor, Ayut Kocaman, is less sold on the player and worried about the disruptive effect of adding a big-earner to the dressing room. They says Lens is looking for wages of £3.5m per year.

Lens has been very vocal in his desire to stay but there has been a notable shift in the last few days of the Turkish season, which ended with a 3-1 win at Adnanaspor on Saturday, amid reported interest from Besiktas.

Lens has now made it known he would be willing to move to the champions, bitter rivals of Fenerbahce’s, giving them the encouragement to press ahead with the deal.

If Saturday was Lens’ final appearance for Fenerbahce, he signed off by creating their second goal, for Aatif Chahechouhe. He has been credited with 12 assists this season and five goals, the most high-profile of them at home to eventual winners Manchester United in the Europa League. At Sunderland his figures were three of each.

Their only concern will be that they are able to move Lens on after yet another signing which proved to be an expensive mistake.

As he has shown in 2016-17, and before that in his international career, Lens is a talented player but one who never looked suited to the more physical approach of English football.

Moving him on will provide greater clarity in terms of the budget Sunderland’s next manager will be dealing with and given that the amounts are likely to be relatively small, one transfer could make an appreciable difference.