Istanbul Awaits Mohamed Salah: Watermelon Vendor's Bet

In Istanbul, transfer fever has taken a sweet, red-fleshed twist.

One Turkish fruit vendor has vowed to give away 500 kilograms of watermelon if Mohamed Salah signs for Besiktas. Half a tonne of fruit, on the house, in honour of Egypt’s biggest footballing export.

It sounds like a gimmick. It also captures the mood. This is what happens when a superstar who has just walked away from Liverpool is suddenly being talked about as a possible arrival in the Turkish league: the rumours spill out of the sports pages and onto the streets.

An Al Jazeera account focused on Turkish news posted a video on Instagram showing the vendor making his promise, turning a routine market stall into an impromptu press conference. Around him, the story that once felt fanciful has started to gain weight.

Reports in Turkey say the “Egyptian pharaoh” is edging closer to Besiktas, with NTVSpor claiming the crisis around the move is close to being resolved. The outlines of the deal are understood to be in place between club and player. The last major hurdle sits away from the pitch, in the fine print of an agent’s commission.

Besiktas, led by club president Serdal Adali, have been working quietly in the background. No grandstanding, no leaks from the boardroom, just steady negotiations with Salah’s long-time representative, Ramy Abbas. The talks have not been easy. Abbas’s financial demands were reported to be steep, with an initial commission figure of 35% cited in local reports.

That number, crucially, has started to come down.

As Abbas has gradually lowered his demands, the gap between the parties has narrowed. What began as a distant possibility has moved into what sources describe as the final stages of contract work. The tone of the coverage has shifted with it: no longer speculative, but cautiously definitive.

Besiktas are now described as “close” to officially announcing the Salah deal, pending agreement on the last details with his agent. For a club desperate to reassert itself on the European stage, this would be a thunderclap of a signing, a statement that echoes far beyond the Süper Lig.

For now, though, nothing is signed. No scarf has been held aloft. No shirt has been printed.

Just a city waiting, a fan base dreaming, and a watermelon vendor ready to turn a transfer saga into a street party the moment Mohamed Salah steps through the door.