With Akturkoglu involved, Fenerbahçe star targets Benfica official: "Trap" | OneFootball

Mário Branco, the new General Director of Benfica, was the target of some less than kind words from Hakan Bilal Kutiualp. According to reports, the Fenerbahçe presidential candidate 'accuses' the Benfica official of complicating the signing of Kerem Akturkoglu, who arrived in Istanbul at the close of the transfer window.

In statements to Fanatik, one of the largest local sports dailies, the former Turkish Federation official claimed it was a 'trap': "We fell into the trap in the transfer of Karem Aktürkoglu. Mário Branco cornered us in that transfer".

After pointing the finger at the former Fenerbahçe sporting director, who switched from the Turkish club to Benfica, the candidate recalled how the Istanbul club had a different market approach: "In our times, we were the 'playmakers' in transfers. We set up the game, decided who came and when".

Finally, the opponent of Ali Koç in the upcoming elections recalled that Benfica delayed the departure of the former number 7, which ultimately harmed Fenerbahçe's European ambitions: "We couldn't sign Karem Aktürkoglu in time and he eliminated us".

It should be noted that the Turkish international, who arrived at Estádio da Luz last season, was transferred in the final days of the summer transfer window and, upon arriving in Istanbul, was already involved in troubles with a former Galatasaray teammate, the eternal rival of his new club.

Check out the images of Akturkoglu's presentation:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.