After spending all of last season on loan with Turkish club Antalyaspor, Haji Wright’s Danish parent club SønderjyskE confirmed today that the two clubs have reached a deal for his permanent transfer.
Wright had a breakout season at Antalya in 2021-22, scoring a total of 14 goals in 32 games, good enough for seventh-best in the Turkish Süper Lig. Nine of those were scored on an impressive tear during the final two months of the season, putting the Los Angeles-born striker on the radar of many teams in Europe as well as USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter.
SønderjyskE confirmed on their website that the deal was set with the two-time Turkish top-flight champions, also indicating the significant financial windfall that they will gain from the move.
“24-year-old Haji Wright has recently been loaned out from SønderjyskE Fodbold to Turkish Antalyaspor, and the parties have now agreed on the terms of a sale of the American striker,” the team announced, adding, “This is the largest trade in the history of SønderjyskE Football.”
While no precise figures have been released about the figure paid to the Danish club, rumors have indicated that it is in excess of €2 million. The previous record for an outgoing transfer by SønderjyskE was the sum of €1.75 million paid by Slavia Prague for defender Alexander Bah in January, 2021.
Wright will continue to play under former Turkish-German star Nuri Şahin, who joined Antalyaspor in 2020 as a player, assumed the role of player-coach last season, and is now continuing in the role as coach in the upcoming season.
The team posted a strong finish to last season, but still ended up six points short of a berth in the Europa Conference League. They will look to continue their previous momentum, with Wright now in tow for the foreseeable future, when they open their season against legendary club Gatatasaray in the first weekend of August.