Beşiktaş President Adalı Clarifies Salah Transfer Situation
Serdal Adalı leans into the microphone and makes his position unmistakable.
Beşiktaş, he says, never lost Mohamed Salah to Trabzonspor. Because Beşiktaş never wanted him.
The club president, speaking to several Turkish outlets including A Spor, moved to shut down the narrative that his side had been beaten to the Egypt captain. For days, the story around Turkish football suggested a transfer tug-of-war that ended with Salah in Trabzon and Beşiktaş empty‑handed. Adalı rejected that version outright.
“We did not want the Mohamed Salah deal, and this must be clear to everyone,” he said. “We did not sign him, but not because we lost the deal or were unable to bring him in, that talk is not true.”
“We were never in that race”
The confusion, in Adalı’s view, began with comments from coach Onder. The coach had spoken cautiously, using the phrase “at the present time” when asked about Salah, a line that many interpreted as a sign Beşiktaş were in the hunt and might yet push for the forward.
Adalı believes those words were twisted into a transfer saga that never really existed.
“The coach explained the matter in a clear and respectful way when he said: ‘At the present time’, but his words were understood incorrectly,” Adalı explained. “We could simply have announced then that we had withdrawn from the negotiations, but the matter was portrayed as if we were a party to the deal and then another club came and snatched the player, and that is not true and it bothers me.”
That irritation has built as the Salah-to-Trabzonspor move has been framed as a blow to Beşiktaş’s ambition. Adalı insists it was never on their agenda, never part of their transfer blueprint, and certainly not a defeat.
“No one has snatched a player from us”
Since taking office, the Beşiktaş president has been keen to project strength in the market. He was not about to let the Salah story chip away at that image.
“Since I took on the responsibility, no one has been able to snatch away any player we wanted to sign,” he said. The message was clear: if Beşiktaş truly go after a target, they close the deal.
He also moved quickly to cool any suggestion of a cold war with Trabzonspor.
“Our relationship with Trabzonspor is also good, and nothing of this kind could happen between the two clubs,” he added, pushing back against the idea of a bitter rivalry spilling into the boardroom.
For Adalı, the transfer window is unfolding exactly as designed. The noise around Salah, he argued, is just that – noise.
“Our deals are going as we planned them, and new players will join us starting next week,” he said. “In the end, what will decide matters is what happens on the pitch, while the transfer hype only lasts a few days.”
The subtext: judge this Beşiktaş by results, not by rumours.
Trossard, paperwork and timing
Amid the Salah storm, there was another name demanding clarity: Leandro Trossard.
The Belgian forward’s situation had sparked questions about registration and eligibility, but Adalı drew a line under that too. “There is no problem regarding Trossard's licence, the matter was resolved last night, and we are waiting for the documents to arrive from England,” he confirmed.
There is, however, a small delay on the pitch.
“He will not be ready for the first match, but we hope he will feature in the second,” Adalı said, setting expectations for supporters eager to see the new signing in action.
The look that launched a rumour
Just when the paperwork settled, another controversy surfaced – this time over a facial expression.
During Trossard’s presentation, a section of fans chanted Salah’s name. Cameras caught Adalı’s face, social media did the rest, and soon his expression was being used as “evidence” that Beşiktaş had lost out on the Egyptian star.
“Everyone talked about the look on my face, but honestly I did not hear what the fans were chanting at that moment,” he insisted.
For Adalı, it was yet another example of a narrative built on perception rather than reality.
“Much was said based on my facial expressions, as if we had lost the deal, but his move was not part of our plans,” he said. “The player's agent did things we had not been accustomed to before, and I think everything went in the end as it should. As time passes the picture will become clear, and everyone will understand why this deal was not completed.”
No grand farewell, no heartbreak, no missed opportunity, he argues. Just a transfer that never aligned with Beşiktaş’s plans.
The president has drawn his line. Now the only thing that can validate his stance is what he promised would matter all along: the team that walks out in black and white, and the results they deliver when the talking stops.
