Blackpool vs Bristol Rovers Matchday Thread

Walsall look set to lose Turkish midfielder Erhun Oztumer as he rejects three contract offers from The Saddlers.

Erhun Oztumer joint Walsall at the beginning of the 2016/17 season and that season he was named in the League One Team of the Year and also received the division’s Goal of the Month award twice. He won the Saddlers’ Goal of the Season accolade for his wonder strike at Bolton and was voted Players’ Player of the Year by his teammates.

The 25-year-old attacking midfielder started his career at Charlton before enjoying spells with Turkish sides Manisaspor, Sivasspor and Anadolu Uskudar and returning to England to play for non-league Dulwich Hamlet in 2012. Oztumer joined Peterborough in June 2014 and played 58 times over two seasons.

Walsall boss Jon Whitney says Oztumer has a lot to his game as he told Express and Star “He works his socks off. The distances and the intensity of his press, the defensive job he does in the team is what all the players need to do.”

Whitney added: “The hard work comes first and I think Erhun understands that.”

“Anyone watching him thinking that can do a job on him, it’s much harder than that. It’s so difficult now because even if he is not in the game technically and scoring his worldies, he still does a job for the team.”

But the Walsall boss is still hopeful to keep Erhun Oztumer at the club as he told the club website “Erhun’s not said no to us. He wants to assess his options at the right time. We’ve tried everything we can”