Victor Osimhen had a decision to make. It was September 2024 and prospective moves to Al-Ahli and Chelsea had fallen through at the 11th hour. Napoli had kicked him out of the squad and replaced him with Romelu Lukaku. A bleak season awaited. Then came the call from Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk. Why not come to Turkey?’As a father, I want you at my club,’ said Buruk, a man nicknamed ‘The Winner One’ – you can ask Jose Mourinho why. ‘These fans will love you. They will do everything for you.’ So Osimhen, one of Europe’s most coveted strikers and then only 25, took the plunge and moved to a league which has never quite gatecrashed the elite. He landed at 3am on September 3 and, true to Buruk’s word, the fans loved him. Three thousand were there to welcome him with flares, despite a flight delay of several hours. In July last year, he signed permanently for a Turkish transfer record of £64.1million. As he puts it, he has found his ‘love story’.This is the treatment which awaits Mohamed Salah, if indeed he finalises a move to Besiktas, one of Turkish football’s ‘big three’ in Istanbul alongside Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. Talks have stalled but the reported wage on offer is £10.7m per year, plus a heap of add-ons. There is, it seems, a hitch over the shirt sales revenue Salah will be entitled to, as well as the commission his camp will get. His alternative destinations would likely be in Saudi Arabia and the United States. Mohamed Salah could be on the move to Besiktas – but experts warn his financial demands would be a huge ‘burden’ for the Turkish club The lifestyle is a huge appeal; Former Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson is seen on a cruise down the Bosphorus Strait Salt Bae’s Nusr-Et restaurant attracts the top stars – Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba once went there together The Nusr-Et restaurant will even coat your meat in gold for a premium price Besiktas’ fans have limited patience. During Leandro Trossard’s recent unveiling, they chanted Salah’s name instead. But Ahmet Turgut, host of the Turkish Football Podcast, feels they should be careful what they wish for.’The price is too much – it would hurt Besiktas. They would sell a lot of shirts and have fans greeting him in the beginning, but if he had a season like he did at Liverpool, these fans would boo Salah,’ he tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘It would be a burden on Besiktas. Already they are financially in trouble.’The clubs in general are not managed by professionals. It’s not like in England and Europe who have owners and a professional team under them. Every year, all three of them want to be champions and that is causing them financial problems.‘These three clubs need to look in the mirror and change their habit of transferring all these players and the money going down the drain wasted.’It is an increasingly frequent tale, marquee names going to Turkey – and not just for teeth and hair transplants. In the past four years, Turkish clubs have made a net loss of £444.51million, a figure exceeded only by the Premier League, Saudi Pro League, and Serie A. Osimhen’s weekly salary of around £300,000 is only bettered in the Premier League by Erling Haaland and Virgil van Dijk. Ederson, N’Golo Kante, Leroy Sane, Ilkay Gundogan, Leandro Trossard, and Mason Greenwood all call Istanbul home now. AC Milan’s Rafael Leao, who is 27 and has had interest from Real Madrid, Liverpool, and both Manchester clubs, looks more likely to join… Fenerbahce. How are Turkey’s top teams pulling this off? The attraction is that the league lives in a sweet spot: rich but not as brazenly so as the Gulf states, fiercely competitive, and with huge lifestyle benefits. ‘For Salah, if he goes to Besiktas, a large part of the decision will be that he wants to do something special and write a nice last chapter to his career. If you go to Saudi, everyone knows you’re there to cash in. You’re not adding much value to your story,’ Kaan Bayazit, host of the Black Eagles podcast about Besiktas, tells Daily Mail Sport. Players are treated like kings in Turkey and lavishly paid – Victor Osimhen earns more than £300,000 per week at Galatasaray Galatasaray have invested in part of a private island for their players to enjoy time in peace Ex-Man City man Nathan Ake plays for Fenerbahce and enjoys time with his wife Kaylee ‘In Turkey, you have the potential to play in the Champions League and are playing in a top-10 European league. You have some of the biggest derbies in the world. There’s a lot to like for a footballer. ‘Istanbul is an even bigger city than London. There’s so much luxury, hotels, dining opportunities. It’s a great place for footballers to live – but you can’t go to the supermarket without getting mobbed.’ Bayazit also sends a warning: ‘The passion of the fans can definitely be a negative. If Salah goes to Turkey and doesn’t do well, and he’s spurning 12 million euros a year, then fans will turn toxic for sure. It’s not likely, but it happened to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.’ Oxlade-Chamberlain spent two years at Besiktas but struggled to find his best form. He played under eight managers and four club presidents, and when things went south, fans turned up at the training ground to share their unsavoury thoughts. The lavish spending is yet to translate to enhanced performances in Europe. In the 21st century, Turkish clubs have only made it out of the Champions League group stages four times – and the last to reach the quarter-finals was Galatasaray in 2001. Besiktas were the most recent Turkish club to reach the Europa League quarters in 2016-17. Fenerbahce once reached the last eight of the Conference League.It is an abysmal record given their potential and it would be easy to say, therefore, that the money is the main draw. But the players themselves appear equally taken in by the special treatment they receive, as well as the sheer fervour of the fanbases. As Sane jetted in last summer, then aged 29, Galatasaray’s live stream of his arrival in the city reached a peak audience of 3.2 million viewers. Thousands of supporters greeted him at the airport. His image was projected onto the 14th-century Galata Tower – and he wasn’t even officially their player yet. When Jose Mourinho was at Fenerbahce, they put him up in the luxurious Four Seasons hotel for 16 months and racked up a £656,000 bill. His accommodation, one of the finest hotels in the city, boasted a spa, state-of-the-art gym and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Each day, a chauffeur drove him to and from Fenerbahce’s Can Bartu training complex, and when he was back home, he would allegedly always have the same meal: chicken soup followed by margherita pizza, ice cream and sparkling water. Players are given a heroes’ welcome when they arrive in Istanbul to sign for a ‘big three’ club Leroy Sane’s face was projected onto the historic Galata Tower ahead of his Galatasaray move Matteo Guendouzi and his wife Maelle moved toIstanbul during the last transfer windowFormer Arsenal star Matteo Guendouzi has been at Fenerbahce with his wife Maelle and their two daughters since January. They share a lavish house on a hilltop with a swimming pool overlooking the rooftops and, in their quality time together, take romantic boat trips down the Bosphorus through the heart of the city.Istanbul has thousands of restaurants to choose from – one travel blog estimates around 23,000 – with Salt Bae’s original Nusr-Et restaurant in the Besiktas district, a popular haunt among footballers. Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba once met there for Turkish tea – but diners can also order ribs coated in 24-carat gold for the equivalent of more than £300. Salt Bae – whose real name is Nusret Gokce – is a lifelong fan of Fenerbahce and has a strong connection with the club, having hosted players for meals and joined in with their basketball team’s title celebrations on-court. There is a concerted effort from Turkey’s elite teams to build an environment which can host the very best. Galatasaray moved into a new 130-acre training facility last year which cost around £17.5m, alongside spending on upgrading their academy and other sports branches. They have also invested in a private island in the middle of the Bosphorus Strait and turned it into an exclusive destination where players can enjoy parties and fine dining. Besiktas moved into a fresh £86m stadium a decade ago and are planning to build a new training ground near Istanbul Airport. They are currently saddled with debts of around £387m, as per their latest announcement, but hope to erase that via investment in a state-backed real estate project. There is a feeling at Besiktas and Fenerbahce that they must play catch-up to Galatasaray, who have brought in enormous revenues from four consecutive title wins and Champions League campaigns each season. For Turgut, the race is a treacherous one and points to a fundamental problem in how the big three are run. He said: ‘They have elections with the members voting every two years. If you buy the members, you’ll be president. This system has to change, otherwise it will be the same thing with other clubs. We’ll see the clubs go bankrupt or they’ll get bought by some people.’Maybe all the stellar names and lavish spending can propel them into the continental elite and bring them financial rewards unlike ever before, though? Not so for Turgut: ‘I don’t see any hope for Turkish teams doing really well in European competitions in the future.’