N’Golo Kanté, who was due to arrive at Fenerbahçe this winter, is ultimately not transferred. The Turkish team just announced this Tuesday, blaming Al-Ittihad.
Expected for several weeks at Fenerbahçe, where supporters awaited him as the messiah, French world champion N’Golo Kanté will ultimately stay at Al-Ittihad, the Turkish club announced on Tuesday, blaming the Saudi team.
According to Fenerbahçe, which wanted to exchange its Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri for the French midfielder, the Jeddah club “incorrectly entered” information relating to these transfers in the dedicated Fifa software (TMS), preventing “transactions (to) be finalized within the stipulated deadlines” as the transfer window closed in Saudi Arabia.
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“An extension was requested, discussions were held with Fifa and all steps were taken to resolve the problem. But the opposing club did not finalize the transactions, without providing justification.says Fenerbahçe in a press release.
Eager to return to Europe four months before the World Cup (June 11-July 19), Kanté, 34, had a medical examination on Monday in Jeddah, where he has been playing for two and a half seasons, with a view to joining Fenerbahçe.
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, «OF» had been recalled by Didier Deschamps for Euro-2024.
