Besiktas' Salah Deal Stalls as Club Shifts Focus to Leao
The courtship of Mohamed Salah was supposed to be Besiktas’ statement to Europe. A marquee free agent, a salary package touching €12.5 million a year, and the promise of a superstar unveiling in Istanbul.
Instead, the deal is frozen.
Besiktas sporting director Onder Ozen has confirmed that negotiations for the Egyptian forward, now out of contract after leaving Anfield on June 30, have been paused as the club refuses to cross its own financial red lines.
Salah deal stalls over money and control
For weeks, the mood around the talks was optimistic. Salah, on the market as a free agent, looked within reach for the Turkish giants, who were prepared to make him one of the highest-paid players in the club’s history.
Then the numbers started to move.
Commercial rights and representative fees became the sticking points. Revenue shares from shirt sales and the size of the commission demanded by Salah’s camp pushed the talks into dangerous territory from Besiktas’ perspective.
Ozen laid out the shift in tone. The club had made contact with Salah and even built a financial model they believed could sustain the move. But as the calendar ticked towards the new season, the tone around the negotiating table changed.
What had started as a smooth dialogue, Ozen said, began to slow from July 21. New requests arrived, altering the financial landscape and, in the club’s view, steering the deal into a dead end.
At the heart of the breakdown is Besiktas’ refusal to breach what Ozen described as legal and financial boundaries. The club insists it will not pay commissions that might stray into an “illegal situation” or commit to a structure that could destabilise their long-term planning, even for a player of Salah’s global stature.
Ozen made it clear: belonging to Besiktas comes with the obligation not to drag the club into that kind of risk. The president, he revealed, has taken what he called an unpopular decision and temporarily withdrawn from the negotiating table.
Not a definitive goodbye. But a hard stop, for now.
Besiktas pivot to Leao – a different kind of gamble
With the Salah pursuit hanging by a thread, Besiktas have not stood still. They have already moved on to a new, ambitious target: Rafael Leao.
According to reports in Italy, the club has opened formal communication with AC Milan over the Portuguese winger, a player who offers a very different profile to Salah. Younger, more explosive, and still under contract, Leao represents both a sporting opportunity and a financial challenge of another scale.
This is no free-agent sweep. Milan are not entertaining short-term fixes or creative loan formulas. The message from the Rossoneri is blunt: only a straight cash sale will be considered.
The price is steep. Leao, a former Serie A Player of the Year, is valued at between €50 million and €60 million. Any club wanting to prise him from San Siro must start there.
And that is only the first hurdle.
Leao’s own demands match his status. The Portugal international is understood to be seeking at least €8 million per season, plus performance-related bonuses, to even contemplate leaving the traditional power leagues of Europe for the Turkish Super Lig.
For most clubs in Turkey, that kind of package would be daunting. Besiktas, though, appear willing to test the limits. The search is not just for a winger, but for a new talisman to build around.
They are not alone. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce have also been linked with the 27-year-old, adding a domestic edge to what is already a complex chase. Besiktas are banking on one advantage: they have already made a formal approach to Milan, hoping that early intent can tilt the race in their favour.
From Salah’s stalled free transfer to the high-stakes pursuit of Leao, Besiktas find themselves at a crossroads. The next move will say everything about how far they are prepared to go to land a star who can redefine their future.
