We don’t often get talked about or the attention in foreign media about something positive, and for that we are glad. This squad fully deserves the recognition. But saying they are rejects is something I find pretty offensive. I understand some of them did not fit in some teams or perhaps they were expected better and did not find their place in that moment in time, but rejects goes too far.
Fenerbahce’s squad has a load of players who played in the Premier League and were a bit shit or are now past their peaks, but are now playing in Turkey, where the standard is much lower and they’re doing well. What’s the issue?
Tadic was never bad in PL. He wanted to leave for Ajax. Southampton never rejected him.
That’s why I said ‘or are now past their peaks’.
It’s often been seen as the traditional path from the PL to Turkey too, either struggling or aging players joining one of the bigger teams (with CL football) for a slower but still competitive league with very passionate fans.
Not many highly rated PL players in their prime head to Turkey and it was often seen as a good place for clubs to offload their deadwood to.