Everton have flown their director of football to Turkey to try to finalise a £20 million deal for the Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun amid fears that the transfer could be hijacked by rivals.

Steve Walsh has travelled to Istanbul for further talks on the future of Tosun, who has been identified as Sam Allardyce’s preferred choice to bolster his side’s attack.

Allardyce has admitted he is worried by the lack of punch from his forward line and those concerns have been compounded by interest from elsewhere in Tosun.

Besiktas claim to have had enquiries from the likes of Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Roma for the 26-year-old, who has scored 13 goals this season including four in the Champions League.

“It’s in the wind,”