Southampton thought they had resolved the future of a 2023 panic buy after Friday’s transfer deadline but the player will now return to the club.
Despite the fact Southampton had to ensure their incomings were concluded by Friday’s 11pm transfer deadline in the UK, a number of transfer windows around the globe remained open later.
This gave owners Sport Republic the opportunity to move on some of the players who did not feature in Russell Martin‘s plans this season and trim down a bulging squad.
This has already seen Samuel Edozie join Anderlecht on loan for the season, whilst the club remain hopeful of securing exits for Paul Onuachu and Armel Bella-Kotchap; Turkey now the most likely destination for the pair.
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One player Southampton thought they had managed to shift was record signing Kamaldeen Sulemana, with a deal with Ajax agreed late on Monday’s deadline in the Netherlands.
FIFA reject Southampton winger Kamaldeen Sulemana’s move to Ajax
The Saints looked to have benefitted from Ajax winger Steven Bergwijn moving to Saudi Arabia on Monday as the Dutch giants made a late swoop for Sulemana.
The terms of the deal were an initial season-long loan with an option to buy of £17 million next summer which is probably about as good as Southampton could have hoped for given how little an impact the 22-year-old has had at St Mary’s.
There was a lot of confusion as to whether the deal was completed in time to be registered and it now appears all parties have been left disappointed as FIFA have rejected the transfer.
That is according to Dutch news outlet De Telegraaf, who report that: ‘FIFA has rejected Ajax’s request to allow the transfer of Kamaldeen Sulemana’.
The report goes on to add: ‘Ajax shot themselves in the foot on the last day of the transfer market.
The Amsterdam team received an unrefusable offer of 21 million euros for Steven Bergwijn (26), but set the condition for the departure of the left winger that a replacement had to be attracted.
That seemed to work with the loan of Kamaldeen Sulemana (22). Bergwijn left, but Ajax failed to complete Sulemana’s paperwork in time’.
Sulemana has failed to live up to price tag at Southampton
This leaves Sulemana in limbo, as the player will be hugely disappointed to see his move to a huge club fall through.
It also means Southampton have the unenviable task of finding a new suitor for the Ghanaian, with Turkey now perhaps the only viable option.
Southampton spent a club record transfer fee of £22 million to sign Sulemana from Rennes on Transfer Deadline Day in January 2023.
It proved an expensive day, as the club also paid £18 million to purchase Onuachu from Genk in what will be remembered as one of the worst pieces of business in the club’s history.
Both players were panic buys as Sport Republic desperately tried to salvage a season which would ultimately end in relegation via a bottom place Premier League finish.
Whilst Onauchu spent last season on loan at Trabzonspor, where he scored 17 goals, Sulemana remained at Southampton but was a source of huge frustration as he looked disinterested and failed to ever really make his mark.
With the transfer window open in Turkey until September 13th, Sport Republic will maintain hope of securing exits for both players to go some way to rectifying their January 2023 mistake.