Mason Greenwood receives rapturous welcome in Istanbul

Fenerbahce's biggest story of the summer transfer window reached a happy conclusion today. Mason Greenwood, signed from Marseille for a €39 million fee that makes him the club's most expensive transfer in history, arrived in Istanbul today. Thousands of fans gave the English star a rapturous welcome at Istanbul Airport; the crowd's chants of "We want Rashford, we want the title!" also drew attention.

Greenwood addressed the fans in footage shared by the club. "When Fenerbahce showed interest in me, the decision wasn't difficult at all, because I've come to Turkey's biggest club. I've kept my word. I want to show what I can do. I play exciting football, I love scoring lots of goals and creating lots of chances," the player said, continuing: "We want to win the league, and reaching the Champions League is very important for the club and our fans too. Before I arrived, I felt the passion of Fenerbahce fans very deeply."

Football executive Cihan Kamer explained the long process behind the transfer. "Let this end in a championship. We said we would make the right signings wherever our technical staff's long-term analysis identified gaps. We started with Vedat Muriqi, then completed the Ake signing, and now Greenwood on the wing and beyond. It was a long journey, and I'm very happy to be experiencing the result," Kamer said, adding an important note of thanks: "Let me say this today: if this transfer happened, it happened thanks to Aziz Yildirim."

The 24-year-old, expected to sign his official contract following medical checks, is planned to join the team's pre-season camp in Austria shortly. The plane carrying Greenwood becoming the most tracked flight in the world on flight-tracking app FlightRadar24 was another indicator of the interest generated by the transfer.

Image: BBC Turkish