Besiktas Firm on Mohamed Salah Offer: No More Negotiations
Besiktas have planted a flag in the ground over their pursuit of Mohamed Salah – and they insist they will not move it an inch.
Sporting director Önder Özent confirmed the Turkish giants have made a formal offer to the former Liverpool star, who is a free agent after leaving Anfield at the end of last season. The proposal is on the table. It will not be sweetened.
“Besiktas’ offer, made on its own terms, is on the table,” Özent told reporters, via Turkish outlet Fanatik. “If a response to this offer comes, it can be evaluated. But Besiktas will not make another offer.”
A straight message to one of the game’s biggest names: take it or leave it.
Besiktas hold firm as Salah weighs options
Salah’s camp, Özent revealed, are not speaking only to Besiktas. The Egyptian forward is also in talks with another, unnamed club as he considers the next step of his career after a glittering spell at Liverpool.
“They've said they're in talks with another club as well; perhaps they'll reach an agreement there,” Özent said. “Our final offer to Salah is the last word — one that doesn't compromise Besiktas' club identity.”
The stance is as much about principle as it is about money. Besiktas want Salah, badly enough to sit down with him and his entourage three times. But they also want to be seen standing by their internal rules.
According to Özent, the early meetings went smoothly. The problems began once the conversation turned to numbers.
“We met with Salah three times without delving into the financial aspects of the negotiations,” he explained. “Everything was going smoothly up to that point. Once the financial discussions began, the smooth progress seen on the first day started to slow down as of July 21.”
That slowdown, he suggested, came from demands around commissions that Besiktas simply refuse to entertain.
Commission demands stall talks
Özent did not accuse Salah directly, but he made it clear that the club believe the forward himself may not be driving the more contentious demands.
“Requests began to emerge that would bring both the flow of information and the financial side to a standstill. I can assume that a respected athlete like Salah was unaware of this,” he said.
The issue, from Besiktas’ side, is simple: they will not go beyond what they consider a legal and ethical commission structure. The sporting director underlined that the club’s president has drawn a bright red line.
“The club has a policy, and it cannot deviate from that policy,” Özent said. “Our president identified the line he would not cross very clearly and stood his ground. Management is a legal business; there is a legally established commission rate, and exceeding that would constitute an illegal situation.”
For Besiktas, this has become a matter of identity as much as recruitment. They want to show supporters that chasing a superstar will not mean bending rules or risking sanctions.
“When it comes to Beşiktaş, avoiding such a situation is a requirement of being a Besiktas supporter,” Özent added. “The president, by not making a populist decision, has ‘stepped away from the table for now.’”
A high‑stakes waiting game
So the offer remains, untouched and unapologetic. Besiktas will not improve it. Salah, courted by at least one other club, must decide whether the package — financial, sporting, and symbolic — is enough.
Besiktas have made their move and drawn their line. The next one belongs to Salah.
