Fenerbahce vice-president Sadettin Saran has confirmed that his club are interested in taking Finidi George to Turkey. Earlier in the week we reported that the misfit Nigerian could be on his way to the Istanbul based side.

Finidi missed training at Portman Road yesterday and met with Saran who was in London primarily to try to secure the signing of Spurs striker Sergie Rebrov.

Saran says that Finidi could be just the man they are looking for: "We're definitely interested in Finidi, whether or not we manage to sign Rebrov. We need an attacking midfielder but can't spend too much cash and he fits the bill.

"Nigerian players have always done well in Turkey, so I'm not too worried about his form at Ipswich."

Town have made the Nigerian available on a free transfer and are likely to pay off the rest of his signing-on fee as a settlement on his contract. This is likely to add up to something in the region of £1 million.

Finidi joined Town from Real Mallorca in the summer of 2001 for £3.1 million and is the highest paid player at the club on £20,000-a-week.

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls