“Fulham behaved badly”: Bordeaux president fumes over deadline-day dealings
The president of Bordeaux has hit out at Fulham for “behaving badly” in their efforts to sign Youssouf Sabaly on transfer deadline day.
The Senegal international was targeted by the Cottagers as they looked to reinforce their defence late in the window, but a deal could not be completed.
Fulham reportedly met Bordeaux’s £12 million release clause for the player but received no response from the Ligue 1 club and therefore the move could not go through.
However, the French club’s president Frederic Longuepee pointed the finger of blame at the Craven Cottage outfit.
“I’m astonished that a club dared contact a player without talking to the club first,” he told RMC.
“We received an offer at 8.03pm. There was a clause in his contract that would have allowed us to do a transfer, but Fulham behaved badly.
“Sabaly expressed a desire to go, but we’re counting on him for the second half of the season.”
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.