Galatasaray tried very hard but it looks like they’ve unable to sign Lassana Diarra at this stage because of the player’s FIFA situation after a transfer infringement with Lokomotiv Moscow.
After one of their targets, Stefan Johansen, joined Championship side Fulham, Galatasaray upped their interest in Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote and Milliyet, AmkSpor, Hurriyet and Eurosport Turkey have all reported the deal is very close.
Galatasaray CEO Levent Nazifoglu addressed reporters following yesterday’s win over Akhisar Belediyespor and said: ”It’s true so far we haven’t been able to agree for Lass. It’s a complicated deal as you know. But Tiote, I think we’re very close to signing him. He’s an exceptional player and our manager Riekerink wants him too. And he’ll be at Istanbul tomorrow afternoon (today). But everything will be decided on Monday. Maybe we can sign both Lass and Tiote, time will tell.”
It’s understood Galatasaray will pay Newcastle £1.2 million for Tiote and the player will earn €2 million in a year.
The 30 year old Ivorian midfielder has even been photographed arriving in Istanbul.
Tiote İstanbul’da! pic.twitter.com/roTt23AKNQ
— Transfer Merkezi ⚽ (@TransferMerkez) August 28, 2016
Tiote started his career in Europe at Anderlecht before he joined Twente. Tiote joined Magpies back in 2010 and played over 150 games.
Nihat Emre Kocaaslan, Turkey.
