'There were so many red flags' - Andros Townsend left in no man's land amid move from Luton Town to Antalyaspor

Former Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Newcastle winger Andros Townsend was hoping to experience something new when he considered a move to Turkish side Antalyaspor. However, the England international is now in transfer limbo. He gave a fascinating insight into the state of his move to Turkey in an interview with BBC 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

Andros Townsend has revealed he has "no idea" where he stands after his move from Luton Town to Antalyaspor was disrupted by a player registration ban.

The BBC has reported that the former Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Newcastle forward has signed a contract with the Turkish team but is not allowed to play for them due to a FIFA-imposed ban on registering new signings.

Antalyaspor are currently on the FIFA Registration Ban List which outlines the clubs that are "temporarily prohibited from registering new players due to various infractions".

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Townsend joined Luton Town in October 2023 before signing a contract extension with the club in January 2024.

"There were so many red flags, you wouldn't believe it," Townsend told BBC 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"But something was telling me this is the right move for me, to go and experience something new in Antalya which is a beautiful city right near the beach.

"Something was telling me to make it happen.

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"I had some great conversations with Rob Edwards and Gary Sweet at Luton, they wanted me to stay but they were supportive of what I wanted to do.

"I made the decision, I thought, to move out here.

"Honestly, I've no idea what's happening and what's going to happen.

"I keep getting told 'tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow'.

"Every time I ask what's happening they say 'don't worry you are our player, you're contracted to us, you can't go anywhere'.

"I'm just here."

The England international made 28 Premier League appearances for Luton last term, scoring one goal and registering three assists.

Townsend added that he and Antalyaspor missed the deadline to complete his transfer by "a couple of hours".

"I've had a crazy couple of weeks," Townsend added.

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Video credit: SNTV

"Three days before the start of the season at Luton, I get a phone call from Antalyaspor saying 'we have an offer for you but you've got 24 hours to respond because we've got a transfer ban coming and we need to get you in before the transfer ban'.

"No time to think about it, I managed to negotiate to be involved in the first game for Luton, then it was literally all signed and all done.

"We missed the deadline by a couple of hours. The contract is signed [but] they can't officially register me, they can't announce me because they have a transfer ban."

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