Some days ago the player himself declared there was an “80% chance that he would be playing in Lazio” the coming season. Only shortly after Trabzonspor president Sadri Sener denied any deal had been struck with Lazio, claiming Claudio Lotito needed to step up his bid in order to sign the sought after player.

The detail that needed to be solved, according to Sener, was how the amount was going to be paid. Lotito was ready to pay the €7 million needed to secure the contract, but only in installments and the Turks denied this possibility. Later on Lazio declined the proposal from Trabzonspor to insert a clause guaranteeing the Turkish side 25% of a potential future sale of the soon-to-be 27 year old.

As the deal has failed to materialise despite the many weeks that it has been top priority for the two teams, other interested parties have made attempts to sign the player. Aside from a few English sides that were interested earlier on, Turkish giants Galatasaray seemed to have become Yimaz’s next destination only a couple of days ago. Apparently the Istanbul based club was ready to pay the release clause as well as offering Yilmaz a salary almost twice as high as he was agreeing on with Lazio.

Today however reports emerge from Turkey that Russian side Locomotive Moscow has sealed the deal for the forward. According to Sener, who himself confirmed the ongoing negotiations, the Russians are only awaiting to agree terms with the player himself and shortly after they will be transferring the sum needed to let Yilmaz become another player choosing money and fame in Russia over playing in Serie A.

(Khashayar Kashefi)