Beşiktaş President Adalı Addresses Mohamed Salah Transfer Saga

Beşiktaş president Serdal Adalı has moved to shut down the noise around Mohamed Salah’s move to Trabzonspor, insisting his club were never beaten to the Egypt captain – because they were never in the race.

The narrative in Turkey over recent days has painted a familiar picture: a heavyweight club outmanoeuvred in the market, a star name “snatched” at the last minute, and a president left to explain what went wrong. Adalı is having none of it.

“We did not want the Mohamed Salah deal, and this must be clear to everyone,” he told several Turkish outlets, including A Spor’s website. “We did not sign him, but not because we lost the deal or were unable to bring him in, that talk is not true.”

That line sets the tone. For Adalı, this is less about Salah and more about Beşiktaş’s reputation. He is pushing back against the idea that the club misplayed their hand or were outgunned by Trabzonspor.

“We were not a party to the deal”

The Beşiktaş president is particularly irritated by how comments from coach Onder have been spun into a transfer saga. The coach had spoken about Salah “at the present time” – a phrase seized upon as evidence of active negotiations and a subsequent collapse.

Adalı says that is fiction.

“The coach explained the matter in a clear and respectful way when he said: ‘At the present time’, but his words were understood incorrectly,” he said. “We could simply have announced then that we had withdrawn from the negotiations, but the matter was portrayed as if we were a party to the deal and then another club came and snatched the player, and that is not true and it bothers me.”

This is the crux of his frustration. In his view, Beşiktaş were cast as a losing bidder in a race they never entered. The implication that Trabzonspor “beat” them to Salah cuts directly against the image Adalı is trying to build since taking charge.

A president guarding his record

Adalı is keen to underline one statistic above all: under his watch, Beşiktaş have not lost a single transfer target to a domestic rival.

“Since I took on the responsibility, no one has been able to snatch away any player we wanted to sign,” he said. “Our relationship with Trabzonspor is also good, and nothing of this kind could happen between the two clubs.”

That last point matters. This is not just about defending Beşiktaş’s pulling power; it is about protecting the political balance between two major clubs. Any suggestion of a tug-of-war over Salah risks fuelling tension that Adalı insists does not exist.

From his perspective, the club’s transfer strategy remains intact, unruffled by headlines or social media storms.

“Our deals are going as we planned them, and new players will join us starting next week,” he explained. “In the end, what will decide matters is what happens on the pitch, while the transfer hype only lasts a few days.”

The message is clear: judge this Beşiktaş board by the squad they put on the grass, not by the rumours they choose not to chase.

Trossard, paperwork and timing

Amid the Salah storm, Adalı also moved to clarify the status of Belgian forward Leandro Trossard, whose registration has sparked its own round of speculation.

“There is no problem regarding Trossard’s licence, the matter was resolved last night, and we are waiting for the documents to arrive from England,” he said. “He will not be ready for the first match, but we hope he will feature in the second.”

So the delay is administrative, not strategic. For a fanbase already on edge after a summer of rumours, that distinction is important. Trossard is coming; the club just needs the final paperwork.

The “facial expression” controversy

Then there is the moment that lit up social media: Adalı’s expression during Trossard’s presentation as fans chanted Salah’s name. Clips of his reaction went viral, interpreted as the look of a man who had just lost a marquee signing.

Adalı rejects that reading outright.

“Everyone talked about the look on my face, but honestly I did not hear what the fans were chanting at that moment,” he said.

In an era where a single screenshot can rewrite a storyline, the Beşiktaş president finds himself explaining not only his transfer policy, but his body language.

“His move was not part of our plans”

Adalı’s closing remarks leave little room for ambiguity. For all the noise, he insists Salah was never a concrete objective and never sat at the heart of Beşiktaş’s summer blueprint.

“Much was said based on my facial expressions, as if we had lost the deal, but his move was not part of our plans,” he said. “The player's agent did things we had not been accustomed to before, and I think everything went in the end as it should. As time passes the picture will become clear, and everyone will understand why this deal was not completed.”

The subtext is unmistakable. In Adalı’s eyes, Beşiktaş stayed true to their principles, refused to bend to an agent’s methods, and walked away from a path that did not fit their plan.

Trabzonspor have their star. Beşiktaş have their stance. The real verdict will not come from press conferences or transfer chatter, but from what happens when the season starts and the noise around Mohamed Salah finally gives way to the sound that matters most: the ball moving on the pitch.