Mohamed Salah looks set to miss out on a move to Besiktas despite holding three rounds of transfer talks with the Turkish giants. The former Liverpool winger is currently searching for a new club, having left Anfield at the end of last season, a year before his contract was due to expire. He has been linked with a number of potential suitors, with the Saudi Pro League emerging as a possible destination.
Salah has also been courted by Besiktas, with their sporting director Onder Ozen revealing that he was interested in landing the Egyptian forward on a free transfer. They made contact with the forward’s camp and reportedly held three rounds of talks over the terms of a potential contract. However, those negotiations have now broken down.
Ozen has explained that Besiktas pulled the plug on the move, pointing to the fact that Salah and his agents are currently believed to be in discussions with a rival club.
He said: “We contacted Salah, this also involved a financing model. Salah is a global star, a respected athlete.
“We met with Salah three times before the financial part of the negotiations was discussed. Up to this point, everything was smooth.
“When the financial side began, the initial smoothness slowed down from July 21st onwards. Requests began to arrive that would both disrupt the flow of information and create a deadlock in the financial process.
“I can assume that a respected athlete like Salah was unaware of this. The club has a policy, and it cannot deviate from that policy.
“Our president has very clearly identified his position and has stayed there. I don’t have a chance to say yes or no. Besiktas’s offer, made under its own terms, is clear.
“If a response comes to this offer, it can be evaluated. But Besiktas will not make another offer.
“They said they are also in talks with another club, maybe they will get a result from there. The last offer we made to Salah is the final point that does not harm Besiktas’ club identity.”
Salah’s departure from Liverpool left many supporters scratching their heads, particularly given that he had only put pen to paper on a two-year contract extension at the club the previous April.
Now without a club, his next destination remains very much up in the air.
Regardless, the Egyptian winger is regarded a true Anfield icon, having claimed two Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy with the Reds throughout his remarkable nine-year spell at the club.
Having scored 257 goals and laid on 123 assists across 442 appearances in all competitions, he will forever be regarded as one of the most lethal forwards ever to grace the famous Kop end.