Quaresma laments Besiktas departure: “Porto and Besiktas will die with me”

Ricardo Quaresma has opened up about his acrimonious exit from Turkish outfit Besiktas, having spent six seasons with the Istanbul side.

In a heartfelt interview, the veteran Portuguese winger spoke about being forced out of the club having seen a deterioration in his relationship with president Fikret Orman.

Quaresma joined fellow Super Lig team Kasimpasa late last month, with the change of scenery coming after months of speculation owing to a very public fallout with the Besiktas chief, who reportedly forced current first-team coach Abdullah Avcı to exclude the Portuguese from first-team affairs.

Matters between Quaresma and Orman appeared to have fractured to an irreparable extent earlier this year when the president was re-elected for a new term and told reporters: “He (Quaresma) disappeared from the team at the most critical moments of the season and is always complaining. The best thing to do is pay him the money he is owed and send him away.”

Related article: Ricardo Quaresma refuses to respond to attack from Besiktas president

Quaresma, 35, initially refused to respond in detail to the attack, but while the former Sporting and Porto man prioritised seeing out the final year of his deal at Vodafone Park, Orman remained determined to dispense with his services. Quaresma told reporters last month that he had been excluded from match squads at the request of the club’s president.

Now, after officially ending his spell with Besiktas, Quaresma expressed his feelings having parted company with the club he helped to two Turkish league titles. “I always said that in Turkey I would only play for Besiktas,” he said. “I left because the president doesn't didn’t want me. Everything that came out was a lie. Unfortunately he managed to get me out of the club I love.

“I have always said that Besiktas and FC Porto are two clubs that will die with me. They will stay in my heart forever.”

On the events leading up to his departure, Quaresma added: “Besiktas had not paid me for five months and I went to talk to the sporting director and said maybe it was time to leave because my family and I were not happy about it. Before going on Christmas holidays I sent a letter [of complaint] to FIFA and he took it badly and said I could not stay in the club.

“He might not want me at the club, but he could have done things differently. At least let me say goodbye to the fans, my teammates, the coaches. They came to me five days from the close of the transfer market and told me I was out. And the president didn't even have the courage to come talk to me."

Quaresma made his full debut for Kasimpasa this evening, playing the whole match in a 1-0 defeat at champions Galatasaray.

By Sean Gillen