Maicon in limbo at Galatasaray after exclusion

The Brazilian defender is stuck in a difficult situation at the Turkish club after being left out of the squad for the rest of the season.

Galatasaray have “suspended” the contract of their Brazilian centre-back Maicon Roque due to the foreign player limit in place in the Turkish Super Lig.

Having signed three more foreign players in the January transfer window — Diagne, Mitroglou and Luyindama — the defending Super Lig champions have reached the limit of 14 foreign players allowed in the first team.

The difficult decision to not register one player for the remainder of the season came down to coach Fatih Terim who chose to omit Maicon Roque after finding him to be surplus to first team requirements.

The 30-year-old is now effectively a player who is waiting for a way out of the club.

According to reports in Turkey, Galatasaray have offered Maicon to a number of clubs in Saudi Arabia including Al-Nassr, hoping to offload the player for around €3 million.

While the European transfer window has closed, the Saudi Arabian transfer period is still open for another 7 days.

Maicon’s contract with Galatasaray runs until June 2021.