Beşiktaş president Serdal Adalı has broken his silence on Mohamed Salah's move to Trabzonspor. He insists his club never lost the race for the Egypt captain, nor did they back out under the weight of competition.
Speaking to several Turkish media outlets, including the website of Turkish channel A Spor, Adalı revealed that Beşiktaş had never wanted Salah in the first place. "We did not want the Mohamed Salah deal, and this must be clear to everyone. We did not sign him, but not because we lost the deal or were unable to bring him in, that talk is not true."
According to the Beşiktaş president, people had twisted earlier comments from coach Onder. "The coach explained the matter in a clear and respectful way when he said: 'At the present time', but his words were understood incorrectly. We could simply have announced then that we had withdrawn from the negotiations, but the matter was portrayed as if we were a party to the deal and then another club came and snatched the player, and that is not true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."
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Since taking charge, Adalı stressed, Beşiktaş have not lost a single target to a rival. "Since I took on the responsibility, no one has been able to snatch away any player we wanted to sign. Our relationship with Trabzonspor is also good, and nothing of this kind could happen between the two clubs."
The club's transfer business, he added, is running exactly to plan. "Our deals are going as we planned them, and new players will join us starting next week. In the end, what will decide matters is what happens on the pitch, while the transfer hype only lasts a few days."
Adalı also addressed the situation of Belgian forward Leandro Trossard, confirming there was no issue over his registration. "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 will not be ready for the first match, but we hope he will feature in the second."
Then came the row over his facial expressions as fans chanted Salah's name during Trossard's presentation. "Everyone talked about the look on my face, but honestly I did not hear what the fans were chanting at that moment."
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His closing message left no doubt: the Salah deal was never on Beşiktaş's agenda. "Much was said based on my facial expressions, as if we had lost the deal, but his move was not part of our plans. 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."
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