Salah agent delivers restaurant jibe after Besiktas transfer dispute

Mohamed Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas has poked fun at Besiktas president Serdal Adalı after the club chief blamed him for the failure of the Egypt forward’s proposed move to the Turkish side.

Salah was initially expected to join Besiktas on a free transfer following his departure from Liverpool. However, the player ultimately chose Trabzonspor instead, with reports claiming he agreed to an annual salary of 17m euros, plus additional performance-related payments.

The dispute resurfaced on social media about a month after Adalı publicly criticised Abbas and held him responsible for the collapse of the deal.

Adalı had previously claimed that Salah and his representative had both given positive indications about a move to Besiktas.

“Salah agreed to transfer to Besiktas and his agent also sent a positive response to our offer at first,” Adalı said.

“He even contacted our head coach and sporting director and renewed his approval of the offer.”

The Besiktas president then alleged that Abbas changed his demands after reports emerged suggesting an agreement had been reached.

“But after news spread in the media that our agreement had been completed, Salah’s agent raised his financial demands,” Adalı added.

“He increased his own commission to unbelievable levels. It reached 35%.”

Abbas appeared to respond to those comments with a light-hearted exchange involving Salah.

The agent posted a photograph on X showing himself and the forward eating at a restaurant in Turkey. Salah replied to the image by asking: “Who ate the two dishes?”

Abbas then used the opportunity to reference Adalı’s claim about his commission, replying: “I ate all of mine and 35% of yours when you weren’t looking.”

The exchange offered Abbas a pointed way of revisiting the transfer disagreement without directly addressing Adalı’s earlier remarks.

Salah has already made his debut for Trabzonspor, coming on as a substitute against Kasımpasa in the opening weekend of the Turkish league season on Saturday.

That match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Salah beginning his career at the club from the bench rather than in the starting line-up.

His next appearance is expected to come in European competition, as Trabzonspor prepare to face Hungarian club Ferencvarosi TC in the first leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday.

The fixture will be Salah’s first continental match in a Trabzonspor shirt. The Turkish club will be seeking progress to the Europa League group stage, while Salah will have the chance to make his first European appearance for his new side after his move away from Liverpool.

The transfer had initially looked set to take the Egypt international to Besiktas, who play in black and white, before the deal changed direction and he joined Trabzonspor. Adalı’s comments had placed the focus on the financial terms surrounding the proposed move, particularly the reported 35% commission, but Abbas’s post has now brought the disagreement back into public view through humour rather than a formal response.