Lorient President Loic Fery has dismissed claims that his club hijacked the deal to sign Ghana striker Abdul Majeed Waris from the grasp of Stade Rennes.
Lorient completed a reported €5.2m move for Waris when many thought he was heading to Rennes when he arrived in France on Wednesday.
Rennes officials were at the airport to pick up the Ghana striker while he joined the waiting vehicles from Lorient alongside his agent Hasan Cetinkaya.
But Rennes officials are already accusing Lorient of double-crossing them to sign the former Swedish League top goalscorer.
Lorient President Loic Fery in his response insists his club had been in direct talks with Trabzonspor all this while to sign Waris and thus did no wrong.
“For me, this is not the case,†he said.
“The player decided to join FC Lorient. The first direct contact with the Trabzonspor club spans back to a little over 10 days.
“A first offer by us was accepted. Our last proposal was accepted more than 48 hours ago and FC Lorient organized the trip of the player.
“We had everything organized, paid for everything but had the unpleasant surprise to realize that Rennes was also waiting for the player.â€