Q7 leaves Turkey, set for Porto move

ISTANBUL

Ricardo Quaresma has not played a single game at Beşiktaş this season after falling out with the board.

Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma left Turkey on Dec. 20, after being released from Beşiktaş.

The player is expected to sign a midseason deal with his former team, Porto, since he was released six months before his Beşiktaş contract was due to expire.

“I will be back to Turkey,” Quaresma said upon leaving Istanbul, where he arrived as one of the biggest transfers in the country’s football history.

No pay cut

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.

Beşiktaş announced on its website that following amicable talks, it has paid the remainder of his three-year deal and he is now available on a free transfer.

Quaresma, who has also played with Inter, Barcelona and Chelsea, moved to Beşiktaş in 2010 as a marquee, signing in a summer when former Real Madrid ace Guti also arrived at İnönü Stadium.