Terrible blow for N’Golo Kanté. Very close to joining Fenerbahçe (Türkiye) at the end of the transfer window, the 34-year-old midfielder will in all likelihood have to stay at Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia). While a two and a half year contract awaited him in Istanbul, the French international, eager to return to Europe with a view to possible participation in the 2026 World Cup, finally saw his transfer derailed.
While the two clubs had concluded an agreement allowing Kanté to make the opposite path to Youssef En-Nesyri, supposed to join the Gulf to replace Karim Benzema, the administrative documents would have been transmitted to Fifa outside the regulatory deadlines Monday evening, the last day of the winter window, due to an error by the Saudi club.
“The documents relating to the registration of the transfer were correctly and completely uploaded to the system within the stipulated time,” Fenerbahçe revealed via a statement released on social media at midday. “However, due to incorrect entry of information by the opposing club (Al-Ittihad), the transactions could not be finalized within the allotted time, independently of our club,” detailed the Istanbul team.
Al-Ittihad “has not finalized the transactions”
“Therefore, an extension was requested, discussions were held with Fifa and all steps were taken to resolve the problem,” explains Fener. “Despite this, the opposing club did not finalize the transactions without providing us with any justification. Due to these events, the transfer process unfortunately could not be finalized. » According to information from L’Équipe, Al-Ittihad for its part justifies the failure of the transfer by an administrative error.
Particularly motivated by the idea of returning to a European championship, Kanté will therefore have to digest this failure and plunge back into the difficult daily life of Al-Ittihad, marked by the recent departure of Karim Benzema. According to the Turkish press, the tireless midfielder and his entourage even sent a petition to the Saudi Pro League to demand his transfer to Fenerbahçe, believing that the documents had been sent on time by the Istanbul club.
Called to the rescue in November by Didier Deschamps after a year of absence for two World Cup qualifying matches, the midfielder with 65 caps, world champion with the Blues in 2018, hoped to take advantage of the Europa League showcase, in which Fenerbahçe is participating.
Insufficiently recovered from an injury to play in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, “NG” was recalled by Didier Deschamps for Euro-2024.
