Maldini-Fenerbahce, meeting with Hakan Safi: does he start again from Turkey?

Paolo Maldini could soon have a new role in football. The former AC Milan technical director was photographed in Istanbul with Hakan Safi, candidate for the presidency of Fenerbahçe, as revealed on X by journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu. In recent days it has become clear that Safi relies heavily on Maldini as the club’s consultant for the transfer market. In the context of Maldini’s future, the possibility of him being offered a role in the Football Federation after the elections on 22 June must always be considered.

who is safi

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The Fenerbahçe elections will be on the weekend of June 6-7. Two presidential candidates. The favorite is Aziz Yildirim, 73 years old, already number one of the club for 20 years, from 1998 to 2018. Hakan Safi starts in second position but has several cards to play, above all a considerable economic availability resulting from Safi Holding, a group active in logistics, energy and industry. Safi led the development of Safiport Derince, one of Turkey’s major commercial ports. In the pre-election debates, Safi promised to bring two great strikers, a goalkeeper and a left-footed central defender to the yellow-blue team to return to winning the championship after 12 years. Thanks to the relationship with Paolo Maldini, in Türkiye there is a lot of talk about Rafa Leao as Fener’s target. Among other transfer rumors, Alexander Sorloth, Norwegian striker of Atletico Madrid. There is also some rumor about an Italian coach: Francesco Farioli.

how to vote

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44,000 members will be able to participate in the elections on 6-7 June. In the last extraordinary elections, in September, 25,000 people participated. You vote at the stadium, choosing between the yellow list (Yildirim) and the blue list (Safi). The elected president will remain in office for one year: it is already expected that there will be new elections in 2026.