The former Arsenal duo Emmanuel Adebayor and Mathieu Flamini’s move to the Turkish Super League side Çaykur Rizespor has collapsed according to the Turkish newspaper Fanatik.

The deal looked to be done after Rizespor boss Hikmet Karaman confirmed the deal.

“We reached an agreement in principle with both players,” Rizespor coach Hikmet Karaman told Anadolu Agency.

“They’ll come to Rize within a few days and the last step of negotiations are going to be done.

“This is down to everyone devotedly working to finish the deals, so I have to thank the board of directors and our president.”

The daily Turkish sports paper state that Rizespor were unable to match the players wage demands and were unsuccessful in attempts to secure a sponsorships to fund the move for the duo.

The story was met with surprise in Turkey as Rizespor are by no means one of the Super Leagues big boys . Both Flamini and Adebayor are free agents after their contracts with Arsenal and Crystal Palace expired.

Flamini made 242 appearances 0ver two spells with Arsenal while Adebayor spent three years at the north London based club from 2006-2009 before making a controversial move to Manchester City.