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Cape Town - Aston Villa will need to put their plans to sign Besiktas star Dorukhan Tokoz on ice after he suffered a serious knee injury.
Villa boss Dean Smith brought in a host of new signings during the summer after the club won promotion back to the Premier League, but he is not done yet and wants further new additions.
Smith is already looking to the January transfer window for reinforcements and reports claim that talented midfielder Tokoz is on his list of potential targets.
So much so, Villa had scouts in attendance in Turkey when Besiktas took on Wolves in the Europa League last week, a game the home side lost 1-0.
However, Tokoz got to play for 79 minutes before being substituted so the Villa spies would have been able to get a good look at him before reporting back to Smith.
However, a dose of bad luck on the injury front looks to have put any deal on hold for now.
In the very next game against Antalyaspor at the weekend, the 23-year-old ruptured his knee cartilage and is now facing a lengthy spell on the treatment table.
Early reports say he will be on the side-lines until February, thus ruling out the possibility of Villa swooping in the January window.
That is not to say that Villa will not keep an eye on the player once he is fit, with a view to a summer swoop once he is back to full fitness.
Tokoz is a combative midfielder, who has made 31 appearances for Besiktas, while he has also broken into the Turkey national side, making five appearances so far.
He is clearly a player that Smith likes the look of and one that has all the attributes to make it in the Premier League, but a deal will be on the backburner for now.
AS Roma have also been linked in the past, along with West Ham United.
- TeamTalk Media
