Besiktas Suspends Salah Pursuit, Eyes Leao as Alternative
Besiktas hit the brakes on Salah pursuit as Leao emerges as blockbuster alternative
Besiktas thought they were closing in on the signing that would shake Turkish football. Mohamed Salah, out of contract after leaving Anfield on June 30, was within touching distance of Istanbul, with an eye-watering €12.5m annual wage package on the table.
Now the deal is on ice. Possibly worse.
Salah talks stall over money and margins
What began as a bold, meticulously structured move for one of the game’s global icons has ground to a halt over the fine print: commercial rights and commissions.
Besiktas made their pitch. They spoke directly with Salah, mapped out how to finance the move, and believed they had a framework that worked for all sides. Then the numbers behind the numbers arrived.
The club baulked at the proposed share of revenue from shirt sales and the commission demands from Salah’s camp. Those two elements, more than the headline salary, dragged negotiations into a dead end.
Sporting director Onder Ozen laid bare how quickly the tone shifted once the financial details took centre stage. He explained that the early stages of the talks had been smooth, but from July 21, the flow changed. Requests began to come in that, in his words, pushed “the flow of information and the financial side into a dead end.”
The message from the Besiktas hierarchy is clear: there is a line they will not cross, even for Salah.
Ozen stressed that while player management and commissions are part of the modern game, there is a legal ceiling to what can be paid. Step beyond that and the club risks entering murky territory. Besiktas are adamant they will not jeopardise their legal or financial position to force the deal through.
So the president stepped back. According to Ozen, he made an “unpopular decision” and chose to withdraw, at least temporarily, from the negotiating table. For now, Salah remains a dream rather than a done deal.
Besiktas pivot to Leao – a different kind of gamble
With the Salah move hanging by a thread, Besiktas did not sit still. They turned their gaze to another headline name: Rafael Leao.
The Turkish club have officially opened talks with AC Milan, according to reports in Italy, to explore the availability of the Portuguese winger. On paper, it is an audacious pivot. From a free agent in Salah to a contracted star in Leao, tied to one of Europe’s biggest clubs and valued accordingly.
Leao operates in a similar area of the pitch, patrolling the flanks, but he brings a different energy: younger, more explosive, and capable of stretching defences in a way that could reshape any coach’s attacking blueprint.
The financial equation, though, becomes far more complex. Milan are not entertaining short-term fixes. No loans, no options, no clever structures. Only a straight cash sale. The price for the former Serie A Player of the Year is believed to sit between €50m and €60m.
That is just the starting point.
Wages, ambition and the pull of the big five
Convincing Milan is only half the battle. Convincing Leao is the other.
The forward sits at the heart of wide-ranging interest from clubs across Europe’s top five leagues. Any move to the Turkish Super Lig would have to match both his sporting ambitions and his financial expectations.
Reports indicate that Leao wants at least €8m per season in wages, plus performance-related bonuses. For a Turkish club, that represents a huge outlay layered on top of a substantial transfer fee. Yet Besiktas, in search of a new talisman to front their project, are not shying away from the scale of the commitment.
They are not alone in the chase. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce have also been linked with the 27-year-old, setting the stage for a domestic power struggle over a player who could redefine the attacking hierarchy in Turkey.
Besiktas, though, hold one advantage for now: they have made the formal move to Milan. Whether that early step turns into a decisive lead, or simply the opening act in a bidding war they cannot control, will say plenty about how far the Black Eagles are really prepared to go in this new era of ambition.
