Schalke Admits Appiah Failure...Again

Schalke Admits Appiah Failure...Again
By Nathan L. Redd

On July 5th, Fenerbahce Worldwide reported that Schalke had admitted failure in landing Fenerbahce star Stephen Appiah. Less than ten days later, Schalke issued a new bid for the Ghana star. Last week, tensions between the two clubs had reached a point where Fenerbahce had filed a grievance with FIFA over Schalke's public handling of the Appiah transfer. Now, Schalke have reportedly admitted failure in landing Appiah...again.

Schalke boss Andreas Mueller told Eurosport on Tuesday that the transfer of Stephen Appiah will not happen. "We are not going to restart negotiations," Mueller declared. "As a result of the Fenerbahce executive committee's demands, Schalke decided to terminate the whole Appiah affair." Fenerbahce Worldwide reported several weeks back that a deal for Appiah to join Schalke in exchange for striker Kevin Kuranyi was a possibility. Shortly thereafter, Fenerbahce management issued a statement saying they were not interested in Kuranyi. From here, Schalke appeared to be using the media to make the deal happen. Several statements were made public by Schalke officials indicating that Appiah and the German club had already reached a deal. Appiah, however, stated in Turkish media outlets that he was happy at Fenerbahce and not looking to join the Bundesliga team.

Mueller seemed to admit defeat in his statements to Eurosport on Tuesday. "[Kuranyi] is one of the key players in our squad and a lynchpin of the team. We understand that this is a decision from Fenerbahce; one that we must accept." English teams Arsenal and West Ham United have also been suitors of Appiah, along with Scotland's Glasgow Celtic. Fenerbahce have, all along, stated that they wish to keep Appiah in the fold and make him a pivotal part of Zico's squad for the new season. They have refused to budge on the transfer fee, indicating that Appiah will be a valuable piece of Zico's puzzle this year.

Schalke seemed to be Appiah's most serious suitor all along, but with the Bundesliga side out of the picture, Appiah may be staying in Kadikoy after all.