Turkish side Besiktas are targeting former Blues loanee Jens Cajuste, TWTD understands.

The Swedish international impressed for Town while on loan from Napoli during 2024/25 and the Blues would like him to return, but with manager Kieran McKenna having admitted at the end of the season that “there’s probably a lot to do for that to happen”.

Italian reports have linked Udinese, French sides and Aston Villa, but we understand Besiktas in Turkey are currently very much in the mix to sign the 25-year-old with a move to the Blues looking unlikely at this stage. Other Premier League clubs are also believed to have shown interest.

The Gothenburg-born midfielder isn’t in Napoli head coach Antonio Conte’s plans and the Serie A champions are happy to let him depart for €10 million (£8.52 million) this summer.

The Besiktas squad is undergoing a major rebuild this summer under head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who took charge in January. The Istanbul club finished fourth in the Süper Lig last season, qualifying for the Europa League.

Cajuste, who has another three years on his Napoli contract, made 26 starts and seven sub appearances for the Blues during 2024/25, scoring once, and was beaten to the Supporters Player of the Year award by Liam Delap by only 36 votes.

Photo: Matchday Images

B_Block_Massive added 15:13 - Jun 27 Think we need to realise he aint coming back :(
5

tractorboybig added 15:28 - Jun 27 No way is he coming here
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runaround added 15:42 - Jun 27 Was decent enough last season but seemed to run out of steam an awful lot in games without ever running the game. Would probably have more impact at the lower level of championship but I have doubts as to whether we could hang our hats on him for a gruelling 46 game season. I would happily welcome him if he signs as I would any signings but will not be devastated if he goes elsewhere

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victorysquad added 15:49 - Jun 27 can we have some good news please
5

RobITFC added 16:14 - Jun 27 This is getting boring , he is not even our player!
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Monkey_Blue added 16:21 - Jun 27 This is the worst kind of speculation. “players we aren’t going to sign”. It’s annoying when we are linked to signing every player with a pulse but at least it’s kind of positive.
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 16:52 - Jun 27 Kelly Youga and Balint Bajner are still available i think
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aas1010 added 17:04 - Jun 27 Just sign him or move on . When’s the new kit launched and whose the new sponsor ?
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Tampa_Florida_Blue added 17:18 - Jun 27 I was over the moon happy when signed him last year, and when fit he was class. But we never see him fully fit as some has already mentioned. He not going to play a Sat Tue week in week out schedule. Would love him to come back, but not sure we can afford him as a half season player.
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TimmyH added 17:26 - Jun 27 Yawn!...do we have to know about every club that have an interest in him? - he's not coming here! (for the third time) :)
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fifeblue added 17:35 - Jun 27 If he is going to cost less than £10m then he would have been signed by now. Either Town realise they cannot persuade him or he wants to play at a higher level or in European competitions in any case.
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NorthLondonBlue2 added 17:51 - Jun 27 Nice change to see a £10m price tag and know we could afford that. I expect his wages might be tricky on top
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armchaircritic59 added 18:04 - Jun 27 If I was give one bit of advice to Jens, IF it came down to a choice of staying here or going to Turkey (sorry Turkiye!), I'd seriously suggest staying here. As I've posted a few days ago, current Opta stats have the English Championship as the joint 6th best league in the world, while the Turkish PL is in 20th, and if you took Galatasary and Fenerbahce out of that, who are light years ahead of the rest (check last seasons final table!), it would be lower still. At least Besiktas average attendance last season is only about 2,000 lower than ours. I doubt his wages would be markedly different, if at all. Of course he may just fancy something new at this point in his life/career and Istanbul could certainly be a pull. He comes across as a really decent guy. I wish him well whatever he decides.

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Rimsy added 18:11 - Jun 27 I'm calling BS on all this. His agent is working overtime keeping his name in the spotlight. They can't all be seriously interested or someone would have snapped him up by now.
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flykickingbybgunn added 18:51 - Jun 27 While he has not signed for somebody else there is still hope that he may come back. Though I'm not holding my breath.
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Karlosfandangal added 19:23 - Jun 27 If Town had stayed up we had to buy him for £12 million…..now he is only £8 million……surely the £4 million saving would pay his wages. He will not be coming back here or the deal would have been done by now…..like the Hutchinson deal was The indication he would not return as soon as Town was relegated if you read the statement from KmK
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benslifeyt added 20:05 - Jun 27 More teams linked more unlikely I feel it is becoming unfortunately
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michaeldownunder added 20:43 - Jun 27 In a midfield two his defensive quality was found to be lacking IMO. good player on the ball but too many times he was bypassed, mind you most of our players were in the prem league as was shown by our final position. Just my thoughts.
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