Black Stars center-back Alexander Djiku made his first appearance for his new club Fenerbache, in a pre-season friendly against Neftci Baku in St Petersburg.
After a series of negotiations, the former Strasbourg defender joined the Turkish heavyweights on a three-year deal with an option to extend for another year.
Despite joining just a few days ago, Djiku joined his teammates for their pre-season ahead of the upcoming season and eventually made his debut.
Djiku did not begin the game on Saturday morning in Russia but spent about 10 minutes on the pitch after being introduced to the game in the 81st minute to replace Serdar Aziz. Fenerbahce defeated Azerbaijan’s Neftci Baku 1-0 thanks to a goal from another new signing, Edin Dzeko.
Strasbourg had planned to extend Djiku’s contract once it expired at the end of June, having recently signed Arsenal icon Patrick Vieira as manager. However, the player chose to look into other options, and Fenerbache made a more tempting offer.
Despite attention from Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga and Lille in the French Ligue 1, Djiku was enthused with the Fenerbache initiative, leading to his decision to join the Turkish club.
He was also approached by rivals of Fernabahce, Besiktas as well as English side Nottingham Forest.
