One of modern football’s most decorated forwards, Mohamed Salah, is on the cusp of completing a blockbuster move to Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor, after touching down in Istanbul to a rapturous welcome from hundreds of cheering fans this Wednesday.
The 34-year-old Egypt captain, who departed Liverpool at the end of last season following a nine-year trophy-laden spell on Merseyside, stepped out of Ataturk Airport wearing Trabzonspor’s iconic claret and sky blue kit, stopping to greet and interact with the jubilant crowd that had gathered to catch a first glimpse of their new star signing.
Salah leaves Anfield as one of the club’s greatest ever players, having scored 257 goals across all competitions, led Liverpool to two Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy, a Club World Cup, Uefa Super Cup, an FA Cup and two EFL Cups. Individually, he claimed the Premier League Golden Boot four times and won the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award three times, in 2018, 2022 and 2025. His final full season at Liverpool saw him contribute 29 goals and 18 assists to the club’s 2024-25 title triumph, but a falling out with former Reds head coach Arne Slot limited his playing time in the following campaign, where he only managed seven league goals before his exit.
Since Salah announced he would leave Liverpool a year early from his contract extension, the global football community has speculated heavily over his next destination. A strong run at the recent World Cup, where Egypt reached the round of 16 for the first time in their history before a narrow defeat to Argentina, stoked further transfer interest. A move to another Turkish top-flight side, Besiktas, was reportedly close, but financial disagreements ultimately collapsed the deal, paving the way for Trabzonspor to step in with an agreement.
As a free agent following his Liverpool exit, Trabzonspor was able to allocate the full weight of their transfer budget to meeting Salah’s wage demands, with the exact terms of his compensation still undisclosed. The Turkish club teased the impending arrival on social media Tuesday night, posting a video showing the Egyptian Pyramids displayed next to their home ground Papara Park, followed by an official confirmation that negotiations with Salah were underway. The club also shared a live tracking map for Salah’s incoming flight to Istanbul, prompting the mass fan turnout at the airport. In a pre-arrival video posted to social media from his private jet, Salah told supporters: “Trabzon, are you ready? See you very soon.”
Trabzonspor, nicknamed the Black Sea Storm, is one of only six Turkish clubs to have won the Super Lig, with a trophy history that includes seven league titles — six of which came between 1976 and 1984, before a 38-year drought ended with their most recent title in 2022. The club finished third in last season’s Super Lig, eight points behind champions Galatasaray, which guarantees them a spot in European competition for the upcoming campaign. They will enter the Europa League play-offs, with a drop down to the Conference League if they fail to progress to the main league phase.
Salah’s signing is the biggest in Trabzonspor’s history, and joins the club alongside former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and ex-Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe. The club’s current squad also features on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana and Cape Verde World Cup stars Wagner Pina and Sidny Lopes Cabral.
Industry analysts widely view this transfer as one of the biggest in Turkish football history. The Super Lig has previously attracted global icons including Roberto Carlos, Didier Drogba, Robin van Persie, Samuel Eto’o, Mesut Ozil and Wesley Sneijder, and this season is already stacked with elite talent: N’Golo Kante and Ederson will feature for Fenerbahce, while Victor Osimhen, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane will line up for Galatasaray.
For Trabzonspor, the capture of Salah marks a major strategic shift. While the club has long competed for domestic titles, it has in recent years prioritized developing young talent and recruiting players with high resale value. The Turkish top flight has grown increasingly dominated by Istanbul giants Fenerbahce and Galatasaray in recent seasons, leading to waning supporter enthusiasm for Trabzonspor and consistent undercapacity crowds at Papara Park. The signing of Salah is designed to reverse this trend: club officials expect his arrival to draw lapsed supporters back to matches, drive massive shirt sales, and expand Trabzonspor’s commercial reach across the Middle East, tapping into a new global fanbase and driving increased interest among the Arab community both in Trabzon and among international visitors to the city. The blockbuster move has already injected a renewed wave of excitement among the club’s fanbase, marking a bold new chapter for the Black Sea Storm.