Besiktas Stands Firm on Mohamed Salah Offer

Besiktas have made their move for Mohamed Salah – and made it clear they will not budge an inch further.

Sporting director Önder Özent confirmed the Istanbul club have tabled a formal offer to the free agent, who left Liverpool at the end of last season, but insisted the proposal is strictly “take it or leave it”.

The message from Besiktas is blunt: the deal is on their terms, or not at all.

A final offer – and no room for negotiation

“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.”

This is not a negotiating stance dressed up as defiance. Özent repeatedly underlined that the club consider this their “final offer” to Salah, one they believe protects what he called Besiktas’ “club identity”.

Salah’s camp, he revealed, are also in talks with another club as the Egyptian forward weighs up his next move after his Anfield chapter closed.

“They’ve said they’re in talks with another club as well; perhaps they’ll reach an agreement there,” Özent said. The implication is clear: Besiktas will not enter a bidding war, not with another team and not with intermediaries.

Talks stall once money enters the room

Behind the scenes, Besiktas have worked hard to position themselves as a serious option. Özent said the club met Salah’s representatives three times and, at first, the discussions flowed.

“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.”

The turning point came on July 21. Once the financial details and commission structures came into focus, the pace of the talks slowed sharply.

“Once the financial discussions began, the smooth progress seen on the first day started to slow down as of July 21,” Özent said. Requests from the Salah side, particularly around commission, began to clog the process, “bringing both the flow of information and the financial side to a standstill.”

Özent stopped short of accusing Salah himself, suggesting instead that the forward may not be fully across the demands being made in his name.

“I can assume that a respected athlete like Salah was unaware of this,” he said.

Club policy over populism

For Besiktas, the issue is not only about one superstar deal. It is about where they draw the line.

Özent stressed that the club operates within a strict framework on commission payments and refuses to cross into what he described as “an illegal situation”.

“The club has a policy, and it cannot deviate from that policy,” he 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.”

In other words, Besiktas will not chase a headline signing at any cost. The club hierarchy believe bending their rules for Salah would undermine the institution they are trying to protect.

“When it comes to Beşiktaş, avoiding such a situation is a requirement of being a Besiktas supporter,” Özent added, framing the stance as a point of principle for the fanbase as much as for the boardroom.

He revealed that president Hasan Arat has effectively pulled back from the negotiations for now, refusing to make what Özent called a “populist decision”.

The president, by not making a populist decision, has ‘stepped away from the table for now,’” he said.

So the offer sits there: one contract, on Besiktas’ terms, no sweeteners, no inflated commissions. Salah and his camp know exactly where the Turkish giants stand.

The next move belongs to the Egyptian – and to the unnamed club on the other side of the negotiating table.