Aston Villa were one of the clubs to show interest in Omar Elabdellaoui, according to VG.
The 28-year-old left Olympiacos after his contract expired this summer, and earlier this week he completed a switch to Galatasaray and signed a three-year deal with them.
He’s managed by his brother, Rachid, and Mikail Adampour. The latter confirmed there was interest in the Norway international from England and Germany, but he refused to provide any details.
“I can confirm interest from several clubs. The specific countries that Omar turned down were England, Germany and Italy. Out of respect for the clubs that have been involved, we will not comment beyond this,” Adampour explained.
VG claim Aston Villa, Fiorentina, FC Augsburg and Schalke were the clubs interested in signing the player, but he ‘turned down offer from the Premier League club’ and others.
Elabdellaoui didn’t respond to VG’s request when they asked him for a comment on the interest shown from Dean Smith’s side, Fiorentina and the two German clubs. However, he did speak to them at a different time, explaining why he picked Galatasaray over other clubs.
“After six fantastic years at Olympiacos, competitive instinct is an important factor for me. My career has to go where I play for titles,” Elabdellaoui said.
“The approach from other clubs has been huge this season. All options were carefully considered by me and my team, and Galatasaray have a proud tradition of fighting for titles.”
The former Hull City man has won five trophies in his career and all of them came with Olympiacos.
