Newcastle United offered Aston Villa linked wonderkid valued at £16m + agent reveals why transfer failed

Newcastle United have reportedly been offered the opportunity to sign one of Turkey's stars of the future, Besiktas forward Semih Kilicsoy.

Last summer, it was reported by Caught Offside that Kilicsoy could be available for €25million (approx £21m). In the report back in September, there was interest from Aston Villa as well as Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Fulham.

Chronicle Live claim that Kilicsoy's representatives are working to try and find their client a new club. Newcastle are a club that are on his wish list, and the valuation is slightly lower at £16m.

Semih Kilicsoy profiled

Kilicsoy has already made four appearances for the Turkish national team after making his debut as an 18-year-old in June 2024. He was prolific at age-grade levels for Turkey, netting 23 times in 33 matches from under 14 to under-21s.

The Istanbul-born star is 19-years-old, and is predominantly a left-sided winger, though he is capable of playing on the opposite flank, and up front. Kilicsoy is under contract at Besiktas until the 2028 season, and his manager is Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who succeeded Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

After making his first-team debut back in February 2023, Kilicsoy has gone on to make 67 appearances in all competitions for Besiktas. He's got 14 goals and nine assists for his club, and last year he lifted the Turkish Cup.

This season, he's played in 28 matches across four competitions, playing a part in eight goals. The winger was recently in action in Solskjaer's first game in charge, gettig an assist as they defeated Athletic Club 4-1 on Wednesday (January 22) in the UEFA Europa League.

Solskjaer last week said that he hoped he could help Kilicsoy become as ‘good as he could get’ alongside his teammate Mustafa Erhan Hekimoglu who has been compared to Erling Haaland.

Agent opens up on missed Newcastle United transfer

Newcastle United have yet to make any signings this month, but Abdukodir Khusanov was strongly linked with a move. He ended up joining Manchester City in a move worth around £34m.

His agent Gairat Khasbiullin revealed that Newcastle were 'very close' to signing the Uzbekistan international before his move to the Etihad Stadium. In the end, Profit and Sustainability rules seemingly thwarted the move.

“Newcastle was very close to the deal,” said Khasbiullin to Championat.

“They even remained one of the favourites, and then was the last to leave the race with City. “As far as I understand, financial fair play also had an impact. Well, they didn’t have enough time. Perhaps if they had made an offer earlier, they would have had time to come to an agreement. “Then City put so much pressure on Lens that it was difficult to make a comparable offer. It was also influenced by the fact that the French needed this money.”

Khusanov arrived from Lens, having made 31 appearances for the French club. He wasn't in the Citizens' squad for their 4-2 defeat to PSG, but he could make his debut against Chelsea this coming Saturday (January 25).