Beşiktaş star Quaresma says yes to club’s salary cut offer

ISTANBUL

Portuguese superstar Ricardo Quaresma has been left out of the Beşiktaş squad after refusing the cash-strapped football club’s offer to make a cut in his salary.

Cash-strapped Beşiktaş has reached an agreement with Portugal’s Ricardo Quaresma on a pay-cut from the superstar footballer’s salary.

Quaresma and his agent Ahmet Bulut had a meeting with the Istanbul club’s executive board members on Sept. 28. Speaking to reporters after the two-hour meeting, Bulut acknowledged that there will be a second meeting next week, but said he had agreed to a salary cut.

The former Barcelona, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Sporting and Porto man agreed to a cut of 750,000 euros from his yearly salary 3.75 million, which is a heavy burden on the financially struggling Super League club.

Beşiktaş has been trying to offload its wage bill, and has parted ways with players such as Simao Sabrosa, Egemen Korkmaz and Fabian Ernst since last summer. The club has been asking Quaresma to either accept a pay cut or find another club.

However, Beşiktaş failed to find an interested club for the Portuguese star, and Coach Samet Aybaba has not been using him until the issue is resolved, making Quaresma an extremely expensive substitute. The 29-year-old had scored 18 goals in 73 games for Beşiktaş in the previous two seasons.