Either Coventry City or Ipswich Town appears to have made a serious move for Fenerbahçe’s 19-year-old striker, with an official offer reportedly submitted.
Journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu reports that an unnamed Premier League club has now tabled a formal bid for the young forward, increasing speculation over his future.
A Premier League club has reportedly submitted an official offer for Fenerbahce striker Sidiki Chérif, although journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu has not revealed the identity of the interested team.
However, Sabuncuoğlu has dropped a significant clue. When a follower asked him to name the club, the journalist replied that he had previously written about two Premier League sides monitoring Chérif.
That appears to refer to a report from earlier this month in which Sabuncuoğlu revealed that Ipswich Town and Coventry City were both keeping tabs on the 19-year-old striker.
With that in mind, the club behind the latest bid is likely to be one of those two. If a choice had to be made, Coventry City may be the more logical destination, given their current attacking options include Haji Wright, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Ellis Simms.
Ipswich Town already have several options in attack, including George Hirst, Emersonn, Chuba Akpom and Ali Al-Hamadi. Emersonn also arrived from Toulouse for a reported €28 million, making it somewhat surprising if Ipswich were now looking to invest in another striker.
That could make Coventry City the more likely candidate for the official offer for Sidiki Chérif, particularly given their current forward options and previous interest in the Fenerbahce youngster.
For now, however, the idea that Coventry City are behind the offer remains purely speculative. Sabuncuoğlu has not provided any further details about the interested club, meaning there is little more than previous reports to go on.
Still, considering his earlier information linking Coventry City and Ipswich Town with Chérif, it would make sense if one of the two promoted clubs has submitted the bid.
The bigger question is what the proposed deal looks like. Fenerbahce paid €18 million to sign Chérif permanently this summer after previously spending €4 million on his loan in January, so they will likely want to recover a significant portion of that investment.
Whether Ipswich, Coventry or another interested club is prepared to meet Fenerbahce’s demands remains unclear.
