Besiktas president Serdal Adalı confirmed negotiations with Mohamed Salah are active, but that the sides have not yet reached an agreement.
Adalı said Salah’s representatives increased their financial demands after reports claimed the move had already been completed.
“There is no completed transfer yet,” Adalı said. “We rejected [the revised demands]. Our talks are continuing.”
Adalı claimed that the reports prompted Salah’s representatives to change their figures. He said they wanted to take the package to “astronomical” levels.
However, the Besiktas president said the club and Salah had reached an understanding on the other aspects of the proposed move.
“We love Salah and agree with the player on every issue,” Adalı added. He also stressed that the club would protect their financial interests.
His latest comments suggest that the financial package remains the main obstacle.
His latest remarks follow a strongly worded Besiktas statement aimed at Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu.
The club called Sabuncuoğlu’s reporting about their transfer work and the proposed terms “pure fiction”. It also accused him of misleading the public with fabricated stories.
Salah’s representative, Ramy Abbas, had also previously rejected suggestions that the player had chosen his next club.
“I personally do not know where Mohamed will play next season,” Abbas wrote on Friday. Adding that the forward’s camp would not hold talks with unwanted clubs merely to generate publicity.