Fenerbahçe’s summer overhaul is heating up, and the flames are flickering brightest in the forward line.
With the sting of a 1-0 derby defeat to Beşiktaş still fresh – a loss that pushed them eight points behind archrival Galatasaray – the Yellow Canaries have already turned their gaze toward rebuilding for next season.
A bold reshaping of the attack is on the table, and two big names stand at the heart of the shake-up: Edin Dzeko and Youssef En-Nesyri.
Dzeko, whose contract expires at the end of the season, remains an enigma. No formal move has been made yet, and uncertainty hangs over the veteran striker’s future like Istanbul smog on a winter morning.
But it’s En-Nesyri’s situation that has reached a boiling point.
Despite smashing his personal best with 26 goals this season – eclipsing his previous record of 24 set at Sevilla in 2020-21 – the Moroccan striker is under scrutiny.
His last seven matches have yielded zero goals, his form cooling at the worst possible time.
That drought has raised eyebrows in Kadıköy, especially considering his 4.5 million euro ($5.1 million) annual salary, one of the highest at the club.
Acquired from Sevilla for 19.5 million euros at the start of the campaign, En-Nesyri has played 48 matches and logged nearly 3,000 minutes for Fenerbahçe.
Yet the return on investment remains questionable, particularly with no concrete offers on the table as the club quietly shops him around.
Still, there is one possible exit ramp, which is Saudi Arabia.
Fenerbahçe’s front office is pinning its hopes on a big-money offer from the Gulf, setting a 25 million euro price tag on the 26-year-old forward.
While there’s been no official contact yet, club executives are quietly confident that the oil-rich league’s thirst for marquee names could turn En-Nesyri’s stats sheet into an irresistible pitch.
Transfermarkt currently values him at 24 million euros, and with four years left on his contract, Fenerbahçe still holds the upper hand. But time is ticking, and patience, like goals from En-Nesyri lately, is running thin.