Norway's John Carew has signed for Turkish club Besiktas

The 25-year-old, who has a Gambian father, joins Besiktas from Italian side AS Roma, where he spent a season on loan from Spain's Valencia.

The Turkish side are set to pay the Spanish champions US $4.3m for the striker, while the player himself is set to make almost US $2m a year.

"I'm very happy to be together with such a team, coach and fans," Carew said at the signing ceremony.

The signing of Carew is the latest effort to revive Besiktas' fortunes after they ended the 2003-04 season in a disappointing third place.

Former Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque recently replaced Romanian Mircea Lucescu as coach of the Turkish team.

Carew played for Norwegian clubs Valerenga and Rosenborg before moving to Valencia in 2000, where he spent three seasons before his loan spell at Roma.

Carew returned to Norway's national team in March after boycotting the squad for several months.

The boycott followed a suspension after he punched team-mate John Arne Riise during a heated argument at a team practice session in September.