Why Mohamed Salah chose Trabzonspor as first pictures emerge

Mohamed Salah has a new club, but it is not one anyone would have expected. On Tuesday night, it was teased by Trabzonspor that they were bringing the Egyptian King to northeaster Türkiye, before a first set of pictures emerged on Wednesday morning, in which Salah was donning the claret and blue stripped shirt.

When he announced he was leaving Liverpool, ending his illustrious nine-year career on Merseyside, no one would have seen this coming. In fact, even a couple of days ago, fellow Turkish Süper Lig side Beşiktaş were very much seemingly leading the race to sign him. There was also a last-ditch attempt from Al-Ittihad to bring the 34 year old to the Saudi Pro League, but Salah always wanted to remain in Europe, albeit this is surely not the destination outsiders would have envisaged.

So, why have Salah decided to call Şenol Güneş Spor Complex Papara Park home? Well, let's explore the factors behind it.

Lack of elite-level European interest

It is of course impossible to know but, back on 24 March, when Salah announced he would leave Liverpool, he surely thought there would be more interest from high-profile European clubs. The season before last, the Egyptian scored 34 goals in all competitions, pretty much single-handedly firing Arne Slot's team to the Premier League title. His form then fell off a cliff last time round, netting only 12 times in 41 appearances, looking a shadow of his former self.

This has seemingly put off a lot of potential suitors. Considering he has previously played in Italy for Fiorentina and Roma, perhaps Salah was hoping a move back to a top-level Serie A club would be on the cards. Or, possibly, one of the La Liga giants would take a chance. However, and we'll never know for sure, but there has been next to no reporting around any such interest so, to remain in Europe, he has had to do so in a lower-ranked league.

The attracton of Turkey

Considering he has two children, aged 12 and six, it would be understandable if Salah is prioritising the desires of his family, as well as satisfying his football. Türkiye's population is 99.8% muslim, which will surely help the Salah family acclimatise. Unlike moving to İstanbul, had he joined Beşiktaş, Trabzon is not a mega city, located next to the Black Sea, so he'll be able to enjoy a quieter life there.

There are also financial incentives. As reported by Egyptian journalist Ismail Mahmoud, his agent Ramy Abbas will earn 35% commission, a huge amount, something Beşiktaş President Serdal Adalı was unwilling to match. He goes onto note that Salah will earn €17 million per year, on top of a €5 million signing on bonus, as well as earning a high percentage of image rights and shirt sales.

Türkiye also offers generous tax breaks for international footballs, helping attract major stars to the Süper Lig. Victor Osimhen, Leroy Sané, İlkay Gündoğan and others will be earning big money at Galatasaray, with N'Golo Kanté, Nathan Aké and Marco Asensio doing similar over at Fenerbahçe.

Nevertheless, as noted by Transfermarkt Türkiye, Salah will become the player in Süper Lig history with the highest career-high transfer value.

Süper Lig players highest-ever Transfermarkt value

Estimated transfer values are not everything, but the fact that Nicolas Pépé sat top of this list from a Trabzonspor point of view underlines just how big a deal it is for the Black Sea Storm to land Salah.

Will Mohamed Salah be successful at Trabzonspor?

Trabzonspor are very much Türkiye's fourth force. They are one of only four clubs to have won the league more than once, but are emphatically fourth out of four. The Claret and Blues were though champions as recently as 2022, ending their 38-year wait for a title. They also won last season's Türkiye Kupası (Turkish Cup), beating Konyaspor 2-1 in the final in Antalya.

That, alongside their third-place Süper Lig finish, means that Fatih Tekke's team will enter the Europa League play-off round. They will have to beat either Górnik Zabrze or Ferencváros, likely the latter, to get into the league phase, but that is a more than winnable tie. Salah has previously scored in the Europa League for Basel, Fiorentina, Roma and Liverpool, and could continue to thrive at that level.

Trabzonspor's one and only appearance in the Champions League group stages came in 2011, and they'll have to finish in the top two of the Süper Lig to have a chance of changing that. Nevertheless, spending big on Salah very much suggests that President Ertuğrul Doğan's ambition is to challenge for the title, even if dethroning four-in-a-row champions Galatasaray is a massive task.

Thus, this move is particularly interesting because Salah is not joining the dominant team in a league. He will be absolutely worshiped in Trabzon and beyond, but finding on-field success won't be easy.

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