Arsenal target to be fitted with INSANE release clause

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 10 Jun 2023 10:33 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal target Orkun Kokcu is on his way to Benfica from Feyenoord, where he will earn three times as much with a contract that has a €120 million release clause.

Arsenal will have to dig deep if they are to sign Kokcu at a later date with Benfica having won the race for the Feyenoord captain's signature.

Benfica are set to pay Feyenoord €40m for the Netherlands-born Turkey international midfielder's services, with a release clause in his contract worth three times that fee.

READ: Arsenal scout 'next Luka Modric' at Feyenoord

As reported by Willem Leijgraf on FootballTransfers' Dutch edition, Kokcu will sign a five-year contract with Benfica, dashing any hopes Arsenal had of signing him, provided the two sides agree to that fee.

Kokcu will reportedly earn three times as much in Portugal as he does in the Netherlands (up to just shy of €1 million a year), while the release clause matches what Benfica had for Enzo Fernandez - a fee they achieved when the Argentine moved to Chelsea in January.

Kokcu's reasoning

Feyenoord are confident of achieving €40m from Benfica, meanwhile, given interest in the player from the Premier League. Benfica's opening bid was understood to have been €30m. Feyenoord general manager Dennis te Kloese also wants to insert a sell-on clause for Kokcu.

READ: Liverpool and Arsenal target being blocked from dream transfer

As well as Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have been credited with an interest in the midfield playmaker. The Gunners were willing to meet Feyenoord's asking price, but Kokcu has his heart set on a move to Portugal.

This is reportedly in part due to the confidence shown in him by Benfica manager Roger Schmidt, the club's playing style, a reunion with former Feyenoord teammate Fredrik Aursnes and the fact that Benfica has become a well-recognised platform to the top of European football in recent years.

Kokcu, who has an ETV of €23.8m per FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, is currently on international duty with Turkey.

Kokcu is not the first player to have spurned the Premier League for Portugal in recent months, with Andreas Schjelderup joining Benfica ahead of Liverpool from FC Nordsjaelland in January.