Besiktas president criticized for transfer deals

The Black Eagles are going through a rough period on and off the pitch as they seek to appease to their supporters.

Besiktas club president Fikret Orman has been the end of criticism from club supporters and multiple sports news outlets in Turkey for the seemingly “wasteful” transfer dealings this past summer.

While he has been praised for Cenk Tosun’s record sale to Everton last season, he has failed to convince the club’s supporters with his transfers in to the club due to the astronomical wages he offers players who either underperform or are past their prime.

Goalkeeper Loris Karius, who was paid £1.3 million at Liverpool, is receiving a hefty €3 million per season from the Turkish club, despite his sub-par performances since joining the team.

Though on a two-year loan from the English club, a mandatory purchase clause had been agreed upon by the two clubs as part of the deal, forcing the Turkish club to cough up €8.5 million to make the transfer permanent at the end of the loan. This has troubled fans especially considering his performances and the weak Turkish Lira at the moment.

Midfielder Adem Ljajic, another on loan player, who was on a €1.4 million salary at Torino, is now being paid €2,250,000 by Besiktas. Also as part of the deal, the club must sign the player permanently for €7.5 million at the end of his loan.

Fans hold sign, in Turkish; “Fikret Orman, where’s the money??”

In addition to these two deals, aging players Pepe, Ricardo Quaresma, who are both 35 years of age, Vagner Love and Adrino, both 34, are all on high wages despite their younger, quicker and more consistent teammates receiving much less.

The financial situation at the Super Lig club has already forced them to sell multiple players in order to attempt to balance the books, such as Alvaro Negredo, Dusko Tosic and Cenk Tosun to name a few, but the future, under Fikret Orman does not sit well with a large chunk of the club’s die-hard supporters which seems to be growing by the day.

They’ve taken to social media to vent their frustrations as well as organizing protests at Vodefone Park during home games, during which they hold signs  with captions such as “Where is the money, Mr. President?”