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Had it worked out differently then Ronald Koeman would have been presented with the scouting report on Cenk Tosun.

Yet less than a week after Everton went to watch the Turkish striker against Monaco, Koeman was out of a job.

Defeats to Lyon in the Europa League and then at home to Arsenal did for the Dutchman and so the feedback on this in-form marksman at Besiktas would have to wait for the new appointment.

Sam Allardyce, of course, was already aware of Tosun but when Farhad Moshiri and Steve Walsh offered their opinion on his performance in the Champions League that night in Monte Carlo, it only reaffirmed his belief the 26-year-old was a target worth pursuing in January.

Tosun had already scored four times in nine games for his club, including one against Porto, before Everton’s major shareholder and director of football took their seats in the Stade Louis II stadium as part of an attendance of just over 7,000.

Top seeds Monaco, the exhilarating surprise package of last season’s competition, only had one point from their opening two Group G matches but even for top of the table Besiktas, this represented a stern test of their mettle.

And when Radamel Falcao held off the challenge of Pepe to stab home the opening goal after half an hour, it got harder for Senol Gunes’ side.

Tosun, with his team 1-0 down, was playing as a lone striker.

“4-2-3-1 is Besiktas’ classic formation under Senol Gunes with Cenk playing on top, and the trio of Quaresma-Talisca-Babel behind him,” explains journalist Cetin Cem Yilmaz, who was at the game.

(Image: BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images)

“Cenk is the lone striker on paper, but this year Cenk got stronger and added a new dimension to his game.

“He started moving around a lot more knowing Babel and Talisca would make the right runs.

“To me, that was Cenk’s greatest success this season. Not simply goals and assists, but how he got them. This season he became a better all-around player, not merely a goal-scorer and the impact was immediate.”

Tosun’s response to Besiktas going behind did not take long either because within four minutes he met Ricardo Quaresma’s cross with a header at the front post to make it 1-1.

Nine minutes into the second-half and the game had officially turned on its head when Tosun capitalised on the disarray in the Monaco area to sweep home Ryan Babel’s cross.

Moshiri, it is understood, was impressed by both the striker’s positioning and finishing and for the club’s billionaire backer, Tosun was the stand-out player on the pitch.

The wheels were now in motion on a transfer that would be finalised in early January.

“We knew clubs would come knocking for Cenk Tosun - scoring four goals and adding in two assists in five Champions League starts guarantees that,” added Yilmaz, Goal.com Turkey chief editor and UEFA.com Turkey reporter.

“Actually what surprised me is that Besiktas accepted the offer in January.

“Had they waited until the end of the season and saw him against Bayern Munich, his price could have gone even better.

“But Turkey are not in the World Cup and Besiktas did not have a great chance of getting past Bayern Munich, so I assume they wanted to take the offer while he’s hot.

(Image: BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

“As for Everton, it made perfect sense that they have gone for a goal scorer: Rooney is not playing as an out and out striker anymore and Calvert Lewin is a good prospect but he doesn’t give you goals every other game.”

Tosun’s double in the snow at Stoke City last weekend means he now has four in his last three but he revealed this week he came “90%” of the way to signing for Crystal Palace in the summer but the deal ran out of time.

But after watching him in the flesh less than two months later, Everton were starting to prepare a move.

Negotiations proved so tough that Walsh was forced to make an emergency trip to Turkey to rescue a deal that was in danger of collapse.

The price went up, Besiktas’ president would then make a special visit to London to thrash it out, and on January 5 – announced during half-time of the FA Cup derby – Tosun was officially an Everton player.

Allardyce refused to sugar coat his assessment of Tosun’s early performances and took him out of the team until he was fit enough but on Saturday evening, in the media room at the bet365 Stadium, was glowing in his praise.

Yilmaz is not surprised by Tosun’s run of goals but warned that Everton will not see the best out of him if they play defensively.

“He is strong, hard working and a clinical finisher, so I believe he is a good fit,” he said.

“Cenk likes the ball in the box, but this season, he started to learn the life far from the goal - especially in Besiktas’ Champions League run.

“But he will need to get a better understanding with his team-mates.

(Image: Colin Lane)

“At Besiktas, he knew where Ryan Babel or Talisca would run when he got the ball outside the box and deliver them assists so with time, he would get better playing with Walcott or Rooney, I believe.

“But of course, Everton need to be playing in a more attacking mentality for Cenk to thrive.

“He is not the most suitable player for counter attacking, so that will always be a problem in big games if Allardyce does not think about attacking against them.”