No new role for Kuijt: Fenerbahçe announces departure

Kuijt departs Fenerbahçe after six months as assistant and interim manager under new boss Emre Belözoglu.

Dirk Kuijt has left Fenerbahçe, the club announced Wednesday. The 46-year-old returned to Istanbul last summer as assistant to Ismail Kartal but took over as interim manager when Kartal departed in late October following poor results. During his spell in charge, Fenerbahçe lost 1–2 at home to Göztepe in the Turkish league but pulled off a surprise 3–2 Champions League win over Liverpool.

Emre Belözoglu, a former Fenerbahçe teammate of Kuijt's, was appointed permanent head coach before that Liverpool victory and made his debut with a 5–0 win over Corum last weekend. Turkish media had suggested Kuijt might move into a youth academy role, but the club confirmed his departure instead.

Fenerbahçe released a statement thanking Kuijt for his contributions across two spells at the club, calling the parting an expression of an eternal bond rather than a final goodbye.