A major international player exchange between Turkish football powerhouse Fenerbahce and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad has collapsed at the eleventh hour, with the Istanbul club publicly blaming their counterparts for a critical administrative failure that scuttled the deal.
The proposed swap would have seen French World Cup-winning midfielder N’Golo Kante move to Fenerbahce, with Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri traveling in the opposite direction.
In a scathing official statement released on Tuesday, Fenerbahce asserted they had fulfilled every obligation, only for the transfer to founder due to incorrect data entry by Al-Ittihad in FIFA’s mandatory Transfer Matching System (TMS), followed by a lack of cooperation from the Saudi club.
According to the detailed account from Fenerbahce, the club had meticulously managed the complex process. “Agreements have been reached with the players; the health checks of the player to be transferred have been completed, necessary approvals have been obtained, and our club has fulfilled all its obligations in a timely and complete manner,” the statement read.
The club further emphasized that all required documents were correctly uploaded to the registration system within the specified deadline.
The primary point of failure, according to Fenerbahce, was a clerical error on Al-Ittihad’s part. “Due to the erroneous entry of the relevant TMS information by the opposing club, the procedures could not be completed within the transfer registration period independently of our club,” the club explained.
The TMS platform is a compulsory global system used to process international transfers, making accuracy in its use essential.
In a desperate attempt to salvage the agreement after the Saudi transfer window closed on Monday, Fenerbahce officials pursued every available avenue.
The club requested an extension and conducted urgent negotiations with FIFA, football’s world governing body, which can sometimes grant leeway in cases of technical problems.
However, these efforts proved futile. The Turkish club’s statement concluded with a damning indictment of Al-Ittihad’s subsequent conduct: “Despite this, in the ongoing process, the procedures have not been completed by the opposing club without any justification provided to us”.
This allegation of being effectively “ghosted” by their negotiation partners has added a layer of acrimony to the breakdown.
The collapse carries significant sporting consequences for both clubs. For Fenerbahce, who are chasing their first Turkish Süper Lig title in over a decade, missing out on a player of Kante’s caliber and experience is a substantial setback.
The 34-year-old midfielder, who joined Al-Ittihad from Chelsea in 2023, was seen as a key addition for the title run-in. Conversely, Al-Ittihad misses out on securing En-Nesyri, a proven goal scorer who was reportedly viewed as a potential attacking reinforcement.
The fallout also creates immediate managerial challenges, particularly for Fenerbahce, who must now reintegrate En-Nesyri into their squad after the striker had evidently prepared to depart.