Arsenal, Manchester City and Fulham have all made attempts to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers youngster Halis Joshua Esen.
That’s according to Turkish journalist Koray Durkal, and he reports this in his column for Hürriyet.
Durkal reveals he recently received a ‘surprise phone call’ from the Wolves U21 player. He’s said to have talked about Arsenal, Manchester City and Fulham trying to sign him.
Wolves signed the winger for their U18s from Welsh side Llanelli Town AFC in 2021. Prior to joining the English club, he’s received proposals from Arsenal, Manchester City and Fulham.
The journalist asked the young attacker why he didn’t consider bids from the two London clubs and Pep Guardiola’s side. Esen has pointed out two key reasons that were pivotal in his decision to pick Wolves over the Premier League trio.
Hürriyet state: ‘1. Wolverhampton was the closest club to me geographically. As an academy, they constantly work with players and give them opportunities. This is very important.
‘2. Other clubs have very large pools of young players. They mostly opt for loan deals. I wanted a place where I could stay and prove myself.’
Durkal summed up what Esen explained instead of relaying the verbatim.
Earlier this year, the 21-year-old was promoted to Wolves U21s. He’s yet to make his debut for their senior team.
Esen is eligible to represent Turkey, and told the journalist that’s what he wants.
“Gökhan Gönül invited me when he was in charge of the U21 national team. However, I couldn’t participate because of a problem with my Turkish citizenship [which we are still trying to resolve]. But my dream is to wear the Turkish senior national team jersey, and I am working towards that,” he said.