West Ham’s January signing and Nigerian international Emmanuel Emenike admitted that he could not remain focused at Fenerbahce and needed counselling after his arrest in 2011.
Emenike was arrested alongside many other Fenerbahce officials and players due to alleged match-fixing in 2011 despite having never kicked a ball for the Turkish club. He left Fenerbahce two months after signing, still without playing for them, and signed for Russian side Spartak Moscow, a rival to Slaven Bilic’s Lokomotiv Moscow.
The charges were dropped in 2013 and he subsequently re-signed for Fenerbahce, but the weight of the supposed allegations were still hanging over him. In an interview with Nigerian publication The Nation, Emenike said:
I was treated like a common criminal. I cried like a baby because it was strange to me. At a point, the trauma was so much for me to bear, so I had to go for counselling. After I was released it was difficult for me to concentrate. There was no way I could remain with Fenerbahce and be focused.
Emenike, who retired from international duty in October last year with 37 caps to his name, was signed on loan by Bilic, who had previously known him from his time in Russia and Turkey, as a replacement for the departing Mauro Zarate and imminently departing Nikica Jelavic.
He nearly scored a 90th minute winner against Norwich last Saturday, but failed to get enough contact on the ball to guide it in.
