Besiktas’ sporting director has now confirmed that the club is putting its pursuit of Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah on ice – after intense negotiations that ended in financial disagreement.
Besiktas, which incidentally was the club that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was manager of for a quarter of an hour, reportedly offered an annual salary of €10 million, which is just over half of what Liverpool paid in his last season at Anfield. The points of contention are said to have been image rights and length of contract, which often does not lead to violations.
It has long been known that Besiktas have been chasing Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah. But now comes the clear message from the Turks: The hunt is over for the time being.
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Besiktas’ sporting director Önder Özen confirmed this at a press conference on Monday.
“There has been talk about Mohamed Salah for a while now. The matter has been speculated about from all sides, so there are some things we want to clarify, Özen began.
Met three times – then everything turned around
“We contacted Salah. It also entailed a financial framework. Salah is a global star and a respected athlete. We met with Salah three times before the financial part was discussed. Up until that point, everything went smoothly, the sports director explained.
“But when the financial part was brought up, things started to get complicated. From 21 July onwards, demands emerged that disrupted the process and led to deadlocked negotiations. I have to assume that a respected sportsman like Salah was not aware of these requirements,” he added.
Withdrawing temporarily – no new bids
Özen also emphasized that Besiktas has temporarily withdrawn from the negotiations, and that the club will not make any more offers this time around.
In the Turkish press, there have been rumours that Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas has upset Besiktas with his financial demands during the meetings. Demands that eventually became too big for the Turkish big club.
Thus, the dream of Salah in a Besiktas shirt – at least for now – is shattered.
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