Tottenham Hotspur forward Sergei Rebrov’s move to Fenerbahce has collpased, leaving the Ukrainian striker stuck with a club who appear not to want him.
The club’s record œ11million signing in June 2000, had been hoping for a move away from White Hart Lane, where he has not made one first team appearance alll season. A deal to take him to Turkey appeared to have been agreed but the move collapsed at the last moment, leaving Rebrov in limbo.
Rebrov’s agent Sandor Varga said the Fenerbahce deal was dead in the water.
‘We don’t know what went wrong,’ Varga told Sky Sports News.
‘We had information that Fenerbahce were close to agreeing the deal but suddenly, at the last moment, we found out the club would not take the risk.
‘Sergei is very upset because he was hoping he’d start to play football again – winning championships and playing in the Champions League as before. It’s a very difficult time for him.’
‘We understand the situation that Tottenham would like to get something back for him, but he is ready to play. He signed a five-year contract so he has no right to move without the agreement of Tottenham.’
Fenerbahce official Sadettin Saran claimed the deal collapsed because the Turkish club were not prepared to match Spurs’ valuation of the player.
‘That’s why it didn’t happen, even though we had agreed in principle with the club chairman,’ Saran was quoted as saying.
‘We had got to the airport with Rebrov for the return to Istanbul and Tottenham were going to fax a contract to the airport but, when a problem came up with the player, Rebrov turned back.’
Earlier this week, Rebrov’s prooposed move to Fulham collapsed amid uncertainty over the future plans of Cottagers’ boss Jean Tigana.