Wout Weghorst ‘willing to pay his own release clause’ to force through Manchester United transfer but current loan club Besiktas ‘will not make it easy’

Besiktas striker Wout Weghorst is ‘willing to pay his own release clause’ in order to force through a loan switch to Manchester United, talkSPORT has been told.

The 30-year-old, who is currently on loan at the Turkish giants from Championship outfit Burnley, has emerged as a January target for the Red Devils as a short-term replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo.

talkSPORT recently revealed how the Netherlands international is keen to make the move to Old Trafford this month.

Weghorst appeared to wave goodbye to the Besiktas fans after Saturday’s 2-1 victory against Kasimpasa – where he scored the winner.

It led to Besiktas director Ceyhun Kazanci issuing a transfer warning to United where he stated the ex-Wolfsburg star remains their player.

The Turkish side also issued a statement regarding Weghorst on Monday where they labelled reports of the possible switch as fake news.

But talkSPORT’s Alex Crook has declared that United and Besiktas are in talks over Weghorst, where the Super Lig side are aiming to get as much money as possible from the Premier League giants.

Providing an update on the transfer, Crook said: “The situation is, I think negotiations are now with Besiktas to see how much they want to terminate the loan.

“They put a statement out suggesting that reports that there was a €2.5million [£2.2m] recall fee [is] not true.

“That tells you that they are going to play hard ball with Manchester United, they want as much money out of United as possible.

“There’s even been suggestions by sources over in Turkey that Wout Wehgorst may even be willing to pay his own release clause.

“That’s how keen he is to make this move to Manchester United, that will be music to the ears of United supporters.

“This looks like their main target now, they had conversations with Jorge Mendes who brokering [Joao] Felix’s departure from Atletico Madrid.

“They didn’t want to pay the type of loan fee that Chelsea are.

“So it will come down to whether they can agree a fee with Besiktas. But I don’t think the Turkish side are going to make this easy.”

Weghorst has established himself as a key player for Besiktas, where he is their top scorer this season.

He has banged in eight goals in 16 top-flight matches, while he also impressed for Holland at the World Cup in Qatar – scoring twice in their quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Argentina.