In one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Turkish football history, Fenerbahçe S.K. officially confirmed the signing of French midfielder N'Golo Kanté on Wednesday, ending a high-stakes standoff with Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad.
The 34-year-old World Cup winner has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract that ties him to the Istanbul giants until June 2028. The deal, which appeared dead only 24 hours ago, was revived following complex legal manoeuvring and direct intervention from world governing body FIFA.
"Some stories take time, but they never end unfinished," Fenerbahçe announced in a social media statement Wednesday morning, welcoming Kanté to the club after a frantic night of negotiations.
The transfer unravelled late Monday when Al-Ittihad failed to correctly enter data into FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) before the registration deadline. On Tuesday, a furious Fenerbahçe issued a public statement accusing the Saudi club of an "administrative blunder" and "incorrect entry of information" that had initially scuppered the move.
The deadlock was broken after Kanté and Al-Ittihad agreed to a mutual termination of his contract, effectively allowing him to join Fenerbahçe as a free agent. This legal pivot bypassed the technical errors that had blocked a direct transfer between the two clubs.
Fenerbahçe President Sadettin Saran credited the resolution to high-level diplomatic and regulatory persistence. Speaking on Wednesday, Saran thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for "significant support in ensuring the positive conclusion of this process," according to reports from Ahram Online.
Al-Ittihad, which had previously been blamed for the delay, released a terse farewell message on X (formerly Twitter) stating, "The club agrees to sell the remaining period of N'Golo Kanté's contract."
Kanté’s return to Europe is widely viewed as a strategic move to secure his place in the French national team ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The midfielder, who won the Premier League with both Leicester City and Chelsea, had spent two and a half years in the Saudi Pro League, making over 100 appearances for the Jeddah-based club.