N’Golo Kante moves to Turkish club Fenerbahce after a transfer delay

Fenerbahce have completed the transfer of World Cup winner N’Golo Kante after his arrival at the Turkish club was postponed due to administrative issues.

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

Kante joined from Saudi Pro League team Al-Ittihad.

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

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

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

Fenerbahce is chasing its first Turkish league title in twelve years. In the transfer window it also recruited another French international, midfielder Mattéo Guendouzi, who will be hoping to regain a place in the national team ahead of the World Cup.

Published on February 4, 2026