Besiktas president Serdal Adali has insisted that the Turkish Super Lig club will attempt to sign 27-year-old English midfielder Joe Willock from Newcastle United in January.
As quoted by talkSPORT, Serdal Adali has vowed to take Joe Willock to Besiktas in the January transfer window. The Turkish Super Lig club’s president has revealed how they attempted to sign the 27-year-old Newcastle United midfielder this past summer, but a deal did not materialise.
Shedding light on Besiktas’s interest in Willock, Adali said, “There were players we couldn’t sign in the summer. Our manager wanted Joe Willock from day one, it was Willock, Willock, Willock. Nobody knows this, but I brought Willock’s whole family to Istanbul.”
“They even picked out a house, and they had video calls with Vincenzo Italiano and Onder [Ozen, the football director] at least ten times. Furthermore, we went to see the player in person twice. He could sign in the mid-season. They asked for £20m. We can sign in January, and I will. Joe Willock was the player the coach wanted but was missing. We really need him there.”
How has Joe Willock fared at Newcastle United?
Joe Willock has experienced mixed fortunes since joining Newcastle United from Arsenal. The Tyneside outfit initially signed the 27-year-old on loan in February 2021 before completing a permanent move in a deal worth £20 million in the subsequent summer transfer window. While the player was excellent in the second half of the 2020/21 campaign, he subsequently struggled for regular game time.
Willock managed only 1,650 minutes across 39 outings in all competitions in the 2025/26 campaign, chipping in with just one goal and three assists. However, the English midfielder has turned a corner in the early days of the 2026/27 season, scoring thrice in seven outings while accumulating nearly 500 minutes of game time. That form may have led to interest in his services, with Besiktas still chasing his signature.
Turkish adventure beckoning?
As Serdal Adali has revealed, Besiktas wanted to sign Joe Willock in the summer. The continued interest is logical, as the Black Eagles are still scouring the market for a versatile midfielder despite a spending spree earlier this year. They have a significant gap to bridge to the title contenders, with Galatasaray and Fenerbahce finishing at least a dozen points ahead of them last season.
Willock is a midfielder of proven Premier League experience, a lower-cost option for Besiktas after coming close to signing him for £17 million in the summer. For Willock, a move to Turkish football represented an opportunity to reignite his career away from the competitive pressure of the English top flight after his struggles in recent seasons.
However, the Englishman has turned things around under Matthias Jaissle, and it is unclear if he still wants to explore a move away from Newcastle United. Recent reports have also suggested that a contract renewal may be on the cards, so despite Serdal Adali’s comments, a January deal will not be straightforward.
