Fenerbahce rising star Elif Elmas was closely linked with several European clubs this summer before joining the Turkish league giants.
Yellow Canaries president Aziz Yildirim revealed Manchester City made a bid for Elmas and that there were an astonishing 26 clubs in total that made bids.
Yildirim told NTV Spor: “Manchester City and Ajax made concrete offers, in total 26 clubs made bids for Elif Elmas.”
Elmas has finally opened up about what actually happened over the summer.
The 20-year-old confirmed that he received an offer from City and from Premier League clubs although he did not divulge much else.
Elmas was asked in an interview with Fanatik whether he received a bid from City and Premier League sides: “Yes to both questions but I won’t go into any more details, that stays with me.”
The 18-year-old ended up joining the Istanbul giants despite having to wait until the turn of the year to get registered due to a complication with FIFA.
Fenerbahce convinced Elmas to make the move with the promise of first-team football.
City have targeted players of Turkish origin recently. The Citizens signed Enes Unal from Bursaspor in 2015 and were closely linked with Roma winger Cengiz Under over the summer.
Elmas featured for the Fenerbahce first team this over the pre-season and is expected to be a member of Aykut Kocaman’s squad over the second half of the season.
The Macedonia U21 international has yet to make an appearance for the Istanbul giants this season.
Elmas also has the opportunity to play for the senior Turkish national side.
