Besiktas cool interest in Mohamed Salah as talks stall over financial conditions

Besiktas have temporarily pulled out of negotiations to sign Mohamed Salah after financial demands linked to the deal led to a breakdown in talks, according to the Turkish club’s sporting director Onder Ozen.

Ozen said Besiktas had been in direct contact with the Egypt international and had even developed a funding model for the proposed transfer, but claimed that once discussions moved on to the financial structure, new requests emerged which complicated the move.

“Recently, there has been a lot of speculation about Mohamed Salah. The subject has been discussed from every angle. There are things we want to clarify about him,” Ozen told a news conference.

Contact with Salah ‘went smoothly’ until finances raised

Ozen explained that Besiktas had spoken to Salah three times during an initial phase in which financial terms were not on the table and that, up to that point, the process had been straightforward.

“We contacted Salah. That also included a model for financing the deal. Salah is a global star and a respected athlete. We spoke with him three times in the stage where we had not entered into the financial side of the negotiations. Until then, everything was going smoothly,” he said.

However, Ozen stated that from 21 July, when the financial aspect began to be addressed in detail, the dynamic of the talks changed and the flow of information slowed down.

“When we began to talk about the financial side, the smoothness that existed on the first day started to slow down as of 21 July,” he continued. “Requests started to arrive that would cause the flow of information and the financial side to reach an impasse. I can assume that a respected athlete like Salah is not aware of this.”

Club policy and commission concerns

Ozen stressed that Besiktas would not deviate from its internal financial rules and that club president’s limits on any deal were clearly defined and would not be exceeded.

“The club has a policy and it cannot step outside it. Our president has very clearly defined the point at which he will stop, and he has remained at that point,” he said.

“Working in the field of player management is legal, and commissions have a legal value. Exceeding that may involve an unlawful situation.”

Temporary withdrawal from negotiations

Ozen framed the decision to step back as a matter of principle and club identity, particularly in relation to commission demands he suggested could go beyond what the club considered legal or acceptable.

“If it is about Besiktas, not entering into such a situation (breaking the law on commissions) is also a requirement of belonging to the club,” he said.

He added that the president had taken a stance that might not be popular with all supporters but was, in the club’s view, necessary.

“The president has taken a decision that is not a populist one and has decided to withdraw temporarily from the negotiating table in the Salah deal,” Ozen concluded.

Ozen did not indicate whether Besiktas might revive their pursuit of Salah at a later date, but underlined that any future talks would have to comply with the club’s established financial framework.