Besiktas director Onder Ozen has claimed the Turkish club have walked away from talks with Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah despite meeting his camp three times.
Salah is a free agent this summer after agreeing with Liverpool to rip up the final year of his contract, ending a trophy-laden spell on Merseyside. The Egyptian star had been approached by Besiktas, with the club's president Serdal Adali telling Turkish media they were awaiting a final decision.
Besiktas have now reportedly ended talks with Salah's camp, claiming a deadlock in negotiations. Ozen suggested Salah's representatives are in talks with another club but stressed their final offer remained on the table if they wished to resume talks.
"We contacted Salah, this also involved a financing model," Ozen told Turkish media.
Talks broke down over finances
"Salah is a global star, a respected athlete. We met with Salah three times before the financial part of the negotiations was discussed," Ozen said. "Up to this point, everything was smooth. When the financial side began, the initial smoothness slowed down from July 21st onwards."
"Requests began to arrive that would both disrupt the flow of information and create a deadlock in the financial process. I can assume that a respected athlete like Salah was unaware of this," he added.
Ozen said Besiktas has a policy it cannot deviate from, and that the club's president has clearly stated his position. "I don't have a chance to say yes or no, Besiktas's offer, made under its own terms, is clear. If a response comes to this offer, it can be evaluated. But Besiktas will not make another offer," he said. "The last offer we made to Salah is the final point that does not harm Besiktas's club identity."
Other offers on the table
Salah, now 34, has offers from elsewhere including in Major League Soccer, where Sporting Kansas City have made a lucrative two-year contract proposal.
