West Bromwich Albion midfielder Okay Yokuslu has faced criticism for his performance following the Baggies' 2-1 defeat at The Hawthorns to struggling Huddersfield Town.
The Terriers secured their first win of the season against the Midlands outfit, thanks to an injury-time winner from Jack Rudoni.
Although Albion manager Carlos Corberan believed his side could have won despite their disappointing performance, Yokuslu hasn't escaped criticism online for his role in the defeat and start to his season.
Adrian Goldberg questions Yokuslu’s fitness
Speaking on a recent episode of The Liquidator podcast, journalist Adrian Goldberg questioned why Yokuslu has been struggling so much for fitness despite completing a full pre-season.
"I remember when he came to us, he hadn't had a proper pre-season, and there was a period where he was only playing for a really short time because he wasn't match-fit," Goldberg stated.
While Goldberg excused this, he pointed out that it's no longer a valid excuse since the Turk had a full pre-season this summer.
"We're not in a period of the season where we are playing two games a week regularly. It's early in the season, and you'd hope players are fully fit," he added before going on to label the midfielder as "an utter disappointment."
Goldberg's co-host, Chris Lepowski, shared similar sentiments, believing that Yokuslu appeared "utterly lethargic," with ongoing questions about why that might be.
Is Yokuslu’s West Brom future in doubt?
The 29-year-old midfielder's performances have been a far cry from those that earned him West Brom's Player of the Year award last season.
According to SofaScore, he has averaged fewer tackles (1.4 down from 2) and interceptions per 90 (0.4 down from 1.3) this season compared to the entire 2022/23 season.
Question marks over the Turkish international's fitness are also valid when considering that Yokuslu has not completed a full 90-minute game all season. In fact, he hasn't played the full duration of a game since March 2023 when West Brom drew 1-1 with Cardiff City.
Yokuslu returned to West Brom in 2022, joining on a free transfer after departing from the Spanish side Celta Vigo. This marked his second stint at The Hawthorns, following a loan spell in the 2020/2021 season. His addition in the January transfer window was not enough to prevent West Brom’s relegation from the Premier League.
In his first full season with the Baggies, Yokuslu made 41 appearances across all competitions.
His impressive performances garnered praise from fans online, and he was honoured as the club's Player’s Player of the Year in 2023.
Despite the recent criticism of the £29k-per-week star's sub-par performances in the current season, it appears that Yokuslu's form in the previous campaign has attracted interest in his services.
During the podcast, Lepowski mentioned the possibility of interest from Süper Lig giants Galatasaray in the struggling enforcer.
He noted that since the Turkish transfer window remains open until September 15th, the chance of Yokuslu departing is still on the table – this surely raises questions about whether West Brom might consider such a move.
