‘I wanted him to join Man City over Roma’ – Club president believes Premier League giants had a better plan for €15m record Super Lig transfer
Turkish international star Cengiz Under joined Roma on a Super Lig record €15 million move last week.
Under was however, closely linked with a move to Manchester City before completing the transfer.
City were the first side to make an offer for Under a fortnight ago.
A source close to Under revealed to Turkish-Football that City were nearing a deal for the 20-year-old before Roma swooped in with a higher bid.
Under’s former club Altinordu made 30 percent of the transfer fee however, club president Seyit Mehmet Ozkan was not pleased with the deal.
See More: Who is Cengiz Under?
Ozkan felt that City had the better long term plan for his former youth product.
“I did not want Cengiz to join Roma,” Ozkan said.
“I was very keen on him joining Manchester City because of the plan they had for him.
“City were gong to loan Cengiz to Freiburg for 2-3 years and then bring him back.
“I understand Roma put in a higher bid but you have to think about the long term.
“We learned our lesson from Salih Ucan at Roma.
“We really hope that does not happen again.”
City had a similar policy for Enes Unal who they signed from Bursaspor in 2015.
Unal was loaned to FC Twente last season were he became the highest scoring Turkish international in Eredivisie history netting 19 times in all competitions.
The powerful striker was sold to Villarreal this window for €14 million but City do have a buyback option which remains active for another three years.
