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Ritsu Doan to Al Ittihad

This move fell through. Last report: Florian Plettenberg, 31 August 2026.

Ritsu Doan's move to Al Ittihad is dead. Florian Plettenberg and Patrick Berger both reported on 31 August that the Saudi club have been formally told the deal is off, with Berger adding that Doan himself rejected the proposal and calling the decision final. That's a sharp reversal from just two days earlier, when Plettenberg described a verbal agreement in place and Doan lined up as Moussa Diaby's replacement. Eintracht Frankfurt, though, still want to sell players this window, which keeps the door open elsewhere even as this particular route closes. The sourcing here is strong. Plettenberg and Berger, both credible and working in tandem, broke the collapse together and neither has walked it back. That follows corroborated reporting through the week from Sacha Tavolieri and Santi Aouna, who tracked the valuation gap and the shifting bids as the numbers moved from €18m to €20m. Four separate voices covering the same story over four days is about as well sourced as these things get. Given the explicit, matching denials from two reliable reporters, this now sits as a long shot rather than a live prospect. For it to be revived, Doan would need to change his mind after an apparently firm rejection, and Al Ittihad would need to come back in after being told the move is finished. Nothing in the reporting suggests either side is inclined to do that. Doan's fee history shows steady, modest rises: Gamba Osaka to Groningen for €2m in 2018, Groningen to PSV for €8m, PSV to Freiburg for €10m in 2022, then Freiburg to Frankfurt for €21m in 2025. An €18m to €26m Saudi fee would have fit

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