Mo Salah closing in on move to shock new club after late transfer hijack

Besiktas’ pursuit of Mohamed Salah has reportedly been hijacked by another Turkish club, and it’s not Galatasaray or Fenerbahçe.

Salah remains a free agent after his Liverpool contract expired in June, bringing his successful nine-year stay at Anfield to an end, with the Egyptian leaving as one of the Reds’ greatest-ever players.

It has widely been reported that the 34-year-old is attracting interest from the Saudi Pro League, with Al Hilal the most likely to secure his signature this summer.

On Friday (July 31), Turkish outlet Turkiye Today reported that Al Ittihad had stepped up their interest in Salah, having previously seen a £150 million bid rejected by Liverpool in September 2023.

Al Qadsiah are supposedly the only other Saudi side with the financial means to complete a deal for Salah, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr and fellow PIF-backed club Al Ahli also not interested.

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Two weeks ago, Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, posted an ominous message on X, suggesting the forward’s next move was imminent.

"We still do not know where Mohamed will play next season, but we may know very soon,” he wrote.

"It is not our style to have discussions with clubs that Mohamed wouldn’t want to play for, just for the sake of noise."

This came after a previous post by Abbas on May 24, which read: "We do not know where Mohamed will play next season.

"This also means that no one else knows. Beware of the click-w****** attention seekers."

Salah next club update emerges

Alongside reported interest from Saudi clubs, Turkey’s Beşiktaş also engaged in talks over bringing Salah to the club.

As reported by ESPN, the Turkish side even made an offer to Salah, with Beşiktaş sporting director Önder Özen issuing an update during a press conference earlier this week.

"Beşiktaş's offer, made on its own terms, is on the table," he said.

"If a response to this offer comes, it can be evaluated. But Beşiktaş will not make another offer.

"They've said they're in talks with another club as well; perhaps they'll reach an agreement there.

"Our final offer to Salah is the last word – one that doesn't compromise Beşiktaş's club identity."

Özen also claimed Beşiktaş had met with Salah’s representatives multiple times.

He added: "Everything was going smoothly up to that point. Once the financial discussions began, the smooth progress seen on the first day started to slow down as of July 21.

"Requests began to emerge that would bring both the flow of information and the financial side to a standstill. I can assume that a respected athlete like Salah was unaware of this.

"The club has a policy, and it cannot deviate from that policy. 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.

"When it comes to Beşiktaş, avoiding such a situation is a requirement of being a Beşiktaş supporter. The president, by not making a populist decision, has 'stepped away from the table for now.'"

However, it appears that Beşiktaş' Super Lig rivals Trabzonspor are attempting to hijack the negotiations.

According to Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, Trabzonspor are close to reaching a full agreement with the player after negotiations with his agent, causing Beşiktaş to suspend talks.

Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu reports that Salah will receive a salary of €17 million per year and is set to sign a two-year deal.

Trabzonspor finished third in the Super Lig last season, behind Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe.