Besiktas' Ambitious Pursuit of Rafael Leao After Mohamed Salah Stalemate
Besiktas’ audacious move for Mohamed Salah has ground to a halt, stalled not on footballing ambition but on the hard edge of commercial reality.
The Istanbul club believed they were closing in on the former Liverpool star after his contract at Anfield expired on June 30, with a package worth around €12.5m per year on the table. For a brief spell, the idea of Salah in black and white felt more than a fantasy. It felt imminent.
Commercial demands derail Salah chase
The deal has run into serious trouble over commercial rights and representative fees that Besiktas refuse to stretch to. The sticking points are clear: the share of revenue from shirt sales and the commission demanded by Salah’s camp.
Sporting director Onder Ozen laid out the story of a negotiation that started smoothly and then seized up as the financial details hardened.
“For a while now, speculation about Mohamed Salah has increased. The matter has been discussed from every angle. There are things we want to clarify regarding it. We made contact with Salah. That also included a model for financing the deal,” Ozen said, outlining a pursuit that had been carefully constructed rather than impulsive.
According to Ozen, everything changed as the clock ticked towards the new season.
He described a turning point: “When talk of the financial side began, that smoothness which had been there on the first day started to slow down as of 21 July. Requests began to arrive that would drive the flow of information and the financial side into a dead end.”
The message from the Besiktas hierarchy is blunt. The club will not cross its own legal and financial red lines, even for a global icon like Salah. Ozen stressed that commission structures have to stay within what regulations allow.
“Working in the field of player management is legal, and there is a legal value for the commission, and exceeding it may involve an illegal situation,” he said. “When it comes to Besiktas, not entering into such a situation is also among the requirements of belonging to the club. The president has taken an unpopular decision, and has decided to withdraw temporarily from the negotiating table in the Salah deal.”
“Temporarily” leaves a door ajar, but the momentum has clearly drained from a move that once looked like the marquee transfer of the Turkish summer.
From free agent to €60m man
Besiktas have not waited around to lick their wounds. With the Salah talks stalling, they have pivoted sharply to a very different type of target: Rafael Leao.
According to reports in Italy, the club has formally opened talks with AC Milan over the Portuguese winger, a player under contract, in his prime, and valued between €50m and €60m.
On the pitch, Leao offers something else entirely. He plays the same wide role, but brings youth, raw acceleration and a more explosive profile, the kind of forward who can stretch a defensive line on his own. For any coach – including the one shaping Besiktas’ next phase – he represents a different tactical weapon to Salah’s more measured, surgical threat.
Off the pitch, the shift from a free agent to a contracted star transforms the equation. Salah would have arrived without a transfer fee but with massive wages and commercial demands. Leao requires a huge upfront fee just to get Milan to the table.
The Rossoneri have already made their stance clear. They do not want short-term arrangements or creative loan structures. Any deal has to be a straight cash sale, no loans with options, no try‑before‑you‑buy.
That alone makes this a heavyweight move for any Turkish club.
Leao’s price: fee, wages and ambition
Then comes the player’s side.
Leao’s camp know his value in the market and are not inclined to compromise. Reports indicate he will not entertain a switch to the Turkish Super Lig unless his wage demands are fully met. The figure being discussed is at least €8m per season, topped up by performance‑related bonuses.
For a club in Turkey, that is a major commitment layered on top of a €50m–€60m transfer fee. Yet Besiktas, still searching for a new talisman to lead them domestically and in Europe, are not backing away from the challenge.
They also know they are not alone. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce have both been linked with the 27‑year‑old in recent weeks, turning the chase into an internal arms race among the country’s giants.
Besiktas hope that making the first formal move towards Milan will count for something. Whether that early step can cut through Milan’s demands, Leao’s salary expectations and the pull of Europe’s traditional top-five leagues is another matter entirely.
One saga has stalled on commissions and shirt sales. The next hinges on whether a Turkish club can genuinely outmuscle the continent’s elite for a €60m forward in his peak years.
