French footballer N'Golo Kanté has joined Fenerbahce, the Turkish side announced on Wednesday, thanking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for intervening to make the transfer happen.
"Some stories take time, but they never end. Welcome to Fenerbahçe, N'Golo Kanté," Fenerbahce wrote on X, after on Tuesday announcing the failure of the 2018 World Cup winner's transfer, blaming Kanté's Saudi club Al-Ittihad for the setback.
The deal had looked all but dead when the Turkish club blamed Al-Ittihad for making the transfer collapse earlier in the day.
Fenerbahce said the deal, which involved Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri moving in the opposite direction, could not initially go through due to administrative errors by the Saudi Arabian club.
However, Al-Ittihad later announced the sale of Kanté, before signing En-Nesyri as a replacement for Karim Benzema who left the club by mutual agreement to join Al-Hilal on Monday.
According to the Turkish press, Kanté, 34, also refused to train on Tuesday to put pressure on his managers and force his departure to Fenerbahçe, where he had been announced for several weeks.
Erdogan reortedly played a role in making the transfer happen.
"On behalf of myself and the club, I would like to express my gratitude to our president, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his unwavering support, which has enabled the successful conclusion of this process, which will contribute to the development of Fenerbahçe and Turkish football," wrote the president of the Istanbul club, Sadettin Saran, on Wednesday.
Midfielder Kanté played a major role in France's successful campaign in Russia to clinch the 2018 World Cup and is hoping to repeat the feat at the 2026 tournament, which will be held in North America next summer.
The France International, who won two English Premier League titles with Leicester City and Chelsea respectively, returned to Europe after two and half seasons with the Saudi team.
En-Nesyri, 28, joined Fenerbahce in 2024 from La Liga's Sevilla and scored 38 goals in 79 games in all competitions.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AP)
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