Quaresma flying back to nest in Istanbul

İsmail Er – ISTANBUL

Turkey’s Beşiktaş, the Istanbul side that is facing transfer difficulties due to financial difficulties in a pre-season where rivals have already signed world stars, has shaken hands with its former Portuguese forward Ricardo Quaresma, along with Brazilian center back Rhodolfo and German striker Mario Gomez, according to an official. 

Erdal Torunoğulları, the foreign relations chief of the black and whites, said these three players will sign contracts at a ceremony at Beşiktaş’s under-construction Vodafone Arena Stadium or Başakşehir Stadium on July 22 before they move to Austria to join the team in training. 

Porto will get some 800,000 euros for Quaresma, sources said, as his fee is estimated at 1.3 million euros annually. 

Quaresma, who has also played with Inter, Barcelona and Chelsea, became an idol for the fans when he moved to Beşiktaş in 2010 as a marquee, signing in a summer when former Real Madrid ace Guti also arrived at the team’s historic İnönü Stadium.

The superstar fell out of favor after refusing the cash-strapped club’s offer of a cut in his salary and was not used by the club this season. Quaresma left Turkey on Dec. 20, 2012, after being released from Beşiktaş.  

However, “I will be back to Turkey,” Quaresma said upon leaving Istanbul. 

He ended up at Dubai’s Al Ahly in 2013, where he appeared only 10 games before he moved to Porto. Quaresma had a brilliant year at Porto last season, as the Portuguese side, for which he also played between 2004 and 2008, reached the quarter finals at the UEFA Champions League. 

Beşiktaş also signed Gomez from Italy’s Fiorentina for 6 million euros in transfer fees at the end of a bargaining that was launched at 10 million euros, according to sources. The 30-year-old will get 4.5 million euros annually.

Gómez joined Fiorentina after spending four seasons with Bayern Munich. He was transferred to the German giants from Stuttgart for a then-record price of between 30 and 35 million euros. He won the Bundesliga three times with the two German teams and UEFA Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2013. He was also in the squad when the German nation team won the bronze medal in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  

No transfer fee details were enclosed about Gremio’s Rhodolfo. None of these three signings have been submitted to the Istanbul bourse, where Beşiktaş shares are traded.

The black eagles also sold Senagalese hitman Demba Ba to China’s Shanghai Shenhua at the start of the summer transfer window. 

Defending champions Galatarasaray signed with 30-year-old German striker Lukas Podolski from Arsenal on July, strengthening its squad that already includes Dutch star Wesley Sneijder. 

Last year’s runner-up Fenerbahçe was even more assertive, as it signed a three-year contract with Manchester United’s Dutch star forward Robin van Persie, who will earn 4.9 million euros per season in addition to 20,000 euros in bonuses per game. Earlier in July, Fenerbahçe signed Portuguese star Nani also from United for 6 million euros and in June bought Danish center-back Simon Kjaer from French side Lille.