Vincenzo Italiano, the technical director of the Turkish team Besiktas, spoke about the development of negotiations with the Egyptian international star Mohamed Salah, during the current summer transfer window.
Besiktas Club entered into intensive negotiations with Salah to sign him in a free transfer deal during the current summer, following the player's departure from English Liverpool at the end of last season 2025/2026.
Besiktas coach's statements about Mohamed Salah
Italiano, the technical director of Besiktas, said during a press conference: "Besiktas is a big club, with excellent organization, an ideal training ground, and an incredibly enthusiastic atmosphere; the fans start pressing from the first minute."
He added: "I have never seen or felt such enthusiasm before, a delightful feeling. Tonight we have the second match against Midtjylland, and if we qualify, we will play another match in the Europa League qualifiers, but the club asked me to participate in Europe, no other option."
He continued: "We will try to compete for the titles this season. In the Turkish league, we have to compete with Galatasaray, the winner of the title for four consecutive years; the team is currently strong."
He went on in the same context: "If we can sign two or three players this summer, we will become stronger. Leandro Trossard is great and will join us in August."
He concluded: "The matter of signing Mohamed Salah is completely on hold at the moment; this is the current situation. However, we have a great captain like Orkun Kökçü."
Turkish reports had indicated that Mohamed Salah's negotiations with Besiktas had developed positively, but some financial demands suddenly disrupted the path.
The reason for the stumbling of Salah's negotiations with Besiktas
The 34-year-old Egyptian player was offered a salary of approximately 20 million euros, including bonuses, and an agreement was reached regarding the commission.
Salah's agent, Rami Abbas, initially requested a commission of 7.5 million euros, then later reduced it to 5 million euros. However, the player's representatives subsequently set an exorbitant price for his image rights.
Salah's representatives demanded 50% of the club's share from sales of all products related to Salah in Turkey, including shirts, in addition to all sales profits in Egypt.
