Uğurcan Çakır's Former Manager Tips Goalkeeper for (Unlikely) Liverpool Move This Summer

Former Trabzonspor manager Sadi Tekelioglu has claimed that Liverpool will complete the transfer of the Super Lig club's goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır after failing to secure his signature in the last two windows.

Of course, unless Liverpool have completely stopped being sensible in the transfer market, that's not happening. Spending the €50m that Trabzonspor are asking for a goalkeeper who will sit on the bench behind Alisson, and who has more yellow cards (5) than clean sheets (4) in 25 league games this season? In the middle of a COVID-19 transfer market crash? No. Absolutely not.

The Turkey international has been at Trabzonspor since joining their youth setup as a 16-year-old in 2012. Çakır started all but one of his side's league games this season as the club have made a surprising title challenge, currently sitting top of the table when play was suspended.

Uğurcan Çakır only became Trabzonspor's first-choice goalkeeper in the second half of the 2018/19 season / Soccrates Images/Getty Images

The talented 24-year-old has attracted interest from several Premier League clubs with Leicester's Head of Recruitment singing his praises at the start of March. However, Liverpool have been the club most consistently linked with the Trabzonspor number one, for some reason.

After passing up the chance to sign Çakır in favour of West Ham's Adrian for free last summer, his former manager Sadi Tekelioglu has insisted that a transfer will go through this summer.

The 65-year-old explained what happened in the summer of 2019, saying: "Uğurcan had a suitor last season," as quoted by the Turkish publication Ajansspor. "I gave Uğurcan an idea to go to the teams in England. Liverpool will transfer Uğurcan Çakır at the end of the season. Trabzonspor will not say no to Liverpool’s offer. I met with Uğurcan. He told me that Liverpool took care of him.”

Çakır has more yellow cards (5) than clean sheets (4) for Trabzonspor in the Turkish top flight this season / JAVIER SORIANO/Getty Images

Tekelioglu went on to value Çakır at €50m, four months after (slightly shaky) reports that Liverpool €24m bid for the goalkeeper rejected in January. Fellow Premier League side Chelsea have also expressed a keen interest in the young shot-stopper.

The west Londoners will be all too familiar with spending outrageous sums on young, promising but largely unproven goalkeepers - with the world's most expensive number one Kepa Arrizabalaga banished to the bench by Frank Lampard earlier in the season.