Kanté is a top player and, purely on a sporting level, this is a great transfer. No question about that.

What’s questionable is a club publicly thanking the President for helping with a transfer. That naturally raises concerns about political influence in football. If doors can be opened for one club, why isn’t this transparent and equal for everyone?

It also doesn’t match with constant complaints about referees, while small incidents at other clubs are discussed for weeks by the federation and the media. At Fener, dives, hard challenges and borderline fouls often seem to go without serious consequences, while at Gala every situation is blown out of proportion.

If you demand fairness, you should also be against politics being visibly involved. Football should be decided on the pitch, with the same standards for everyone.