N’Golo Kanté joins Turkish club Fenerbahce after transfer delay

ISTANBUL (AP) — Fenerbahce has completed the transfer of World Cup winner N’Golo Kanté after his arrival at the Turkish club was delayed by administrative problems.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fenerbahce president Sadettin Saran thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday “for the significant support he provided in ensuring the positive conclusion of this process.”

Kanté joined from Saudi Pro League team Al-Ittihad.

The deal had looked all but dead on Tuesday when Fenerbahce blamed Al-Ittihad for making the transfer collapse. Fenerbahce said the deal could not initially go through due to administrative errors by the Saudi Arabian club.

But Al-Ittihad later posted a farewell message on X, saying it agreed “to sell the remaining period” of Kanté’s contract.

The 34-year-old Kanté, who joined Al-Ittihad in 2023, recently returned to France’s national team and made his 65th appearance for Les Bleus in November in a 4-0 win against Ukraine. Kante won the World Cup with France in 2018.

Fenerbahce is chasing its first Turkish league title in 12 years. In the transfer window it also recruited another France international, midfielder Mattéo Guendouzi, who hopes to reclaim a place in the national squad ahead of the World Cup.

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