Adrian Goldberg labels West Brom midfielder Okay Yokuslu an ‘utter disappointment’, Galatasaray links shared
Adrian Goldberg described Okay Yokuslu’s performances for West Brom this season as an “utter disappointment”, while Chris Lepowski shared that the midfielder has been linked with Galatasaray.
Midfielder Yokuslu played 74 minutes as West Brom were surprisingly beaten by Huddersfield Town 2-1 at The Hawthorns on Saturday (2 September).
Goldberg, speaking on The Liquidator podcast (3 September, 11:43), has been left unimpressed by the Turkey international’s performances thus far this campaign.
“Yokuslu, though, I remember when he first came to us he hadn’t had a proper pre-season and there was a period where he was only playing for a relatively short period in games because he wasn’t up to match fitness, it can’t be an excuse now. Why is Yokuslu not playing for 90 minutes?” He said.
“I don’t understand why Yokuslu hasn’t been playing 90 minutes, I also don’t understand why he looks so lethargic. He’s been an utter disappointment this season, he’s not the only one.”
Co-host Lepkowski said there had been rumblings Super Lig giants Galatasaray were interested in taking him back to Turkey, with the transfer window there still open for business.
“Interesting suggestions have arisen on social media from journalists in Turkey suggesting that Galatasaray might be looking to bring him back to Turkey,” he said.
“There is speculation that Galatasaray, and this has appeared I should mention not on social media from fans but actually from journalists who have suggested Galatasaray are interested in Yokuslu, so is there an issue there? I don’t know but he hasn’t looked the same player.”
Time to shape up
West Brom’s form this season can be best described as patchy, with two wins, two defeats and a draw leaving them in 11th place in the Championship heading into the international break.
Carlos Corberan will be looking for much more consistency from his side when they return to action, and he will hope to do some good work on the training ground over the next fortnight.
The question following Lepowski’s comments now is, will Okay Yokuslu still be at The Hawthorns when they visit Bristol City on 16 September?
Corberan will hope he is as if he does leave he cannot now draft in a replacement until January. He will not want to have his squad trimmed even by a single player now the window is closed.
But Yokuslu, like many others at Albion, will need to show a marked improvement if they are to kick on and put together a run of results that makes them contenders for the top six.
In other West Brom news, the reason for a couple of absentees versus the Terriers has been explained.