Galatasaray president Mustafa Cengiz has spoken to Turkish newspaper AMK about the latest developments at the club.
One of the talking points was Badou Ndiaye’s controversial transfer to Stoke City last month, and Cengiz has confirmed the previous Galatasaray board had agreed on a €14m deal with the Premier League club.
The player signed for the Premier League side after just six months at Galatasaray.
Cengiz said: “The previous board gave a promise to the player. Once we were elected, Ndiaye came to us and talked about this. Stoke City offered €14m in the provisional talks, the former board signalled that they are ready to accept that offer. But we refused it. We negotiated again and managed to get €2m more.
Ndiaye completed his dream move to Stoke City in the last transfer window, but due to Cengiz’s stance on the transfer fee this caused complications just before deadline day.
Stoke City eventually came in with an improved offer, which was accepted by the Turkish giants.
The deal was eventually sealed in the final hours of the window, but not without last minute concerns over his work permit.
Ndiaye made his debut for Stoke City earlier this month against Bournemouth, and provided an assist in his side’s 2-1 defeat.
