Besiktas Stands Firm in Mohamed Salah Negotiations
Besiktas have made their move for Mohamed Salah – and, according to sporting director Önder Özent, they have already played their final card.
The Istanbul club are in talks with the free agent after his departure from Liverpool at the end of last season and have formally tabled an offer. That proposal, though, comes with a clear warning: there will be no improved terms, no late sweeteners, no bidding war.
“Besiktas’ offer, made on its own terms, is on the table,” Özent told reporters, via Turkish outlet Fanatik. “If a response to this offer comes, it can be evaluated. But Besiktas will not make another offer.”
This is not the usual transfer-market dance. No slow escalation, no public flirting followed by private renegotiation. Besiktas have chosen a different stance: take it or leave it.
Salah weighing options as talks stall
Salah’s camp, Özent revealed, is also in discussions with at least one other club as the Egyptian star considers his next step after a glittering spell at Anfield.
“They've said they're in talks with another club as well; perhaps they'll reach an agreement there,” he said, accepting the possibility that Besiktas may ultimately be outbid or outmaneuvered.
The Turkish side have not approached this lightly. Özent explained that Besiktas met Salah’s representatives three times, deliberately steering clear of the financial minefield in the early stages to build a football-first dialogue.
“We met with Salah three times without delving into the financial aspects of the negotiations,” he said. “Everything was going smoothly up to that point.”
Then came the numbers. And the mood changed.
“Once the financial discussions began, the smooth progress seen on the first day started to slow down as of July 21,” Özent admitted.
Commission demands become the breaking point
The sticking point, according to Besiktas’ sporting director, has not been the salary alone but the surrounding financial structure, particularly commission-related requests from those involved in the deal.
“Requests began to emerge that would bring both the flow of information and the financial side to a standstill,” he said. Özent was careful to distance Salah himself from those demands. “I can assume that a respected athlete like Salah was unaware of this.”
That line matters. Besiktas are making it clear they respect the player, but they will not bend their institutional rules to accommodate the financial expectations around him.
“The club has a policy, and it cannot deviate from that policy,” Özent stressed. “Our president identified the line he would not cross very clearly and stood his ground. Management is a legal business; there is a legally established commission rate, and exceeding that would constitute an illegal situation.”
In other words: Besiktas will not risk sanctions or damage their governance model just to land a marquee name, even one as globally marketable and instantly transformative as Salah.
Identity over populism
Özent framed the club’s stance as a matter of identity and principle, not just accounting.
“When it comes to Beşiktaş, avoiding such a situation is a requirement of being a Besiktas supporter,” he said, tying the decision to the values the club claim to represent. “The president, by not making a populist decision, has ‘stepped away from the table for now.’”
That phrase – “for now” – leaves the faintest crack in the door. The offer remains on the table. If Salah and his camp return within the boundaries Besiktas have drawn, the deal can be revived.
But the message from Istanbul is unmistakable. Besiktas want Mohamed Salah on their terms, not his entourage’s. The next move belongs to the Egyptian and the rival club in the race.
