Serdar Adalı, the president of Beşiktaş, has once again downplayed his club’s failure to sign Mohamed Salah, revealing that coach Vincenzo Italiano and his technical staff were not keen on signing the Egyptian star, who ultimately moved to Trabzonspor.
In statements made to the Turkish website “Duhuliye”, Adalı explained that he was the most enthusiastic party about completing the deal, but he failed to convince the technical staff before Beşiktaş withdrew from negotiations.
The Beşiktaş president stated: “When the Salah deal was offered to us, I made a great effort to convince the coach and the technical staff.”
He continued: “The coach and the technical staff did not want to include Salah, but the conditions requested by the player and his agent also did not align with our club’s principles, nor were they part of the planning we set at the beginning of the transfer window. When the conditions didn’t match, we backed out.”
Adalı added: “If we had signed Salah, we would not have been able to bring in Dušan Vlahović, whom the coach wanted, and I am very happy that I executed the deal he requested.”
This was not the first time Adalı attempted to downplay Salah’s move to Trabzonspor. Following the finalization of the deal, he had said: “We did not want Salah and we did not sign him. There is no ‘hijacking’ of the deal as is being said, and our fans must know that.”
However, this narrative contradicts previous statements made by the Beşiktaş president during the negotiations, when he confirmed that his club liked Salah and had agreed with him on everything. He had also revealed at the time that the player spoke personally with Italiano and the sporting director and expressed his approval of the move.
Beşiktaş had advanced significantly in its negotiations with Salah before withdrawing due to a dispute over his agent’s commission, image rights, and percentages of shirt and merchandise sales. This allowed Trabzonspor to step in and offer a better financial and commercial package that met the Egyptian star’s demands.
Salah joined Trabzonspor on a free transfer following the end of his tenure with Liverpool. He began his journey in the Turkish team’s shirt by coming on as a substitute in the 1-1 draw against Kasımpaşa in the opening round of the league.
