The cold truth behind Mohamed Salah’s move to Turkey’s fourth-biggest club

The path to the pitch in Turkey may have begun on the bench in Turkey. Two months before Mohamed Salah signalled the end of his Liverpool fc career with the explosive outburst in which he claimed he had been thrown under the bus came the first indication he had lost his status as an automatic choice.

Salah was benched for the Champions League defeat to Galatasaray in September. His cameo was notable for being the first time – albeit only for six minutes – that Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and the Egyptian were on the field together. Arne Slot’s starting 11, though, formed the prelude to Salah’s dropping in November. And, indirectly, to his return to Turkey, to join Trabzonspor, to the euphoric reception he received at Istanbul Airport on Wednesday.

It is not only recency bias that indicates Salah will be the most spectacular signing in Trabzonspor’s history. Perhaps it is cruel, though, to reflect how far his fortunes have declined in a year. In the summer of 2025, fresh from a season when he scored 29 Premier League goals and recorded 18 assists, his availability on a free transfer would surely have brought a more prestigious suitor than Turkey’s fourth biggest club.

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Mohamed Salah’s move to Trabzonspor is a stark drop-off from Liverpool (AP)

But he was mobbed by fans during his introduction at the club (Reuters)

Nevertheless, Salah in Turkey offers intrigue. He will be an incongruous sight in a team featuring Sidny Lopes Cabral, the Cape Verdean scorer of the goal of the World Cup, the exiled and erratic Andre Onana and “tall Paul” Onuachu, briefly of Southampton but prolific in Belgium and Turkey; but few players of the calibre of his former Liverpool teammates.

His presence could be seen as part of a shift from east to west, of how, as, with Salah’s reported salary of €17m a year, Turkish clubs are able to outbid some of their French, Spanish, German and Italian counterparts for players; their league already includes Victor Osimhen, Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane, Ederson and Leandro Trossard. Yet only Osimhen is under 30, and Turkey is developing a reputation as a lucrative retirement home for the footballing elderly.

While Salah felt himself mistreated by Arne Slot at Anfield last season, Liverpool’s peers did not sign him. It is thought the Egyptian’s camp approached his old employers at Roma; minus a move to the traditional elite, it is hard to escape the conclusion that they feel his best days are, suddenly, far behind him.

The relationship between Salah and Arne Slot had deteriorated as the season went on (PA)

Perhaps his most recent display against a Turkish side indicates he could still be a force in the Super Lig though. Salah rewound time for a glorious quarter of an hour, eviscerating Galatasaray at Anfield in March. It may bode well for his time at Trabzonspor. Yet the subsequent tie against Paris Saint-Germain, where he was sadly ineffectual, has the potential to prove his last ever in the Champions League; Trabzonspor finished third in the Super Lig last season and should be in the Europa League. Although, if they lose a play-off to Ferencvaros or Gornik Zabrze, they will instead end up in the Conference League.

And yet it is notable that Salah chose to stay in European football (if not actually Europe). Sporting Kansas City were rivals for his signature. As the most high-profile Arab footballer in the world, there was long the theory he would go to Saudi Arabia. Yet, and while Al-Ittihad made a £150m bid in 2023, it was right at the end of a summer of Saudi spending, long after earlier targets were pursued; and there has rarely been the sense it was Salah’s dream destination, even before war in nearby Iran may have made it less appealing. That Turkey is an Islamic country, and relatively close to Egypt, could have swayed his decision, certainly compared to the long distance to Kansas City.

The probability is that Salah’s exit from Liverpool has been cushioned by a pay-off to compensate for the last year of a lucrative contract. But his huge commercial income was facilitated in part by the profile Liverpool provided; beyond the fanaticism of the Turkish fans, Trabzonspor does not have anywhere near the same pull. It was a reason to wonder if Salah might have sought a club in one of the top five divisions or the Champions League to maintain a greater prominence.

Andoni Iraola replaced Slot at Liverpool but that didn’t prompt a change of heart over Salah (PA)

It is also notable that regime change at Anfield did not bring a change of heart from Liverpool. Slot’s sacking may have been rendered more likely by some of Salah’s words; his Instagram post, a week before the end of the season, calling for a return of “heavy-metal football”, may have meant he got his wish when Andoni Iraola was appointed. And yet the May draw against Brentford remained his last game for the club. It was a sign Liverpool do not expect the Salah of old to return.

Yet the problem is that, if they probably always knew he was irreplaceable, they still have not replaced him. Realistically, they have had since at least autumn to plan for a summer signing; the rapprochement of sorts in December only ever looked a temporary affair.

But it is now August. Liverpool put together a £100m package for Yan Diomande, but he will instead leave RB Leipzig for Real Madrid. And so Salah has his new club but Liverpool do not have their new Salah.