Kartal has his XI for Gornik Zabrze
İsmail Kartal knows his team. The manager has already settled on his starting XI for the Champions League second qualifying round against Gornik Zabrze, and training on Monday was built entirely around that lineup (2). No experimentation, no hesitation, just sharpening for a match that defines your season before the Süper Lig even kicks off.
Guirassy deal at the finish line
Serhou Guirassy is close. Fenerbahçe are finalizing the striker's transfer from Borussia Dortmund, with only the signature left (8). He is the kind of finisher who changes what this attack can do, and the club is not waiting around.
Greenwood lands, chaos follows
Mason Greenwood arrived in Istanbul on Friday after completing his move from Marseille (3) (10). That was the good part. Over the weekend a video of Greenwood correcting his partner Harriet Robson in front of cameras went viral, and Dutch media tore into him, Voetbalzone called it a public humiliation (3). The signing is done. The noise around it is just getting started.
Get the next Fenerbahçe S.K. brief by email
This article went out to subscribers as a brief. Get the next one straight to your inbox, free.
Free · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime
Swap talks: Oğuz Aydın for Emirhan Topçu
The Oğuz Aydın saga has a new shape. Beşiktaş want him, Trabzonspor are circling, but Fenerbahçe have made their call, he stays unless the right offer lands (5). That offer could be Emirhan Topçu. Talks are ongoing between the two Istanbul rivals about a straight swap, Aydın for the Beşiktaş defender (9). Ajax and Feyenoord remain interested.
Five players in the treatment room
The club issued an injury update covering five players on Monday (1). No names were released, but with a Champions League qualifier days away and Kartal's XI set, every absence matters. The squad is deep, how deep is about to be tested.
Jhon Durán signs for Benfica, door closed
Jhon Durán is not coming back. The Colombian striker, who spent the first half of last season on loan at Fenerbahçe, has signed permanently with Benfica (12). Galatasaray had been linked. Now neither Istanbul club gets him.
Three more names on the radar
The scouting work is not slowing. An 18-year-old midfielder from Red Star, Cem Kerpiççiler, was revealed as a target on live TV (11). Two young Turkish forwards are also being lined up as the club hunts domestic attacking talent (13). Separately, there is talk of bringing back a former Fenerbahçe star, the name is not yet public (14).
One more through the door
Abideen Suliat Olajumoke has signed for Fenerbahçe (4). The club announced the deal quietly amid the Greenwood and Guirassy headlines, but it is another piece in Kartal's rebuild.