Jamie Carragher Critiques Mohamed Salah's Move to Trabzonspor
Jamie Carragher does not mince his words when it comes to Mohamed Salah’s next chapter. For him, Turkey is the wrong stage for a player he still sees as one of Europe’s elite.
Speaking on the Football Ramble, the former Liverpool defender laid bare his surprise that Salah has chosen Trabzonspor over another crack at one of the continent’s traditional powerhouses.
“I never believed he was going to go to Saudi, because number one, he's too good for that. I think he can be playing in Serie A. Turkey for me feels a level too low,” Carragher said, stunned that the winger has stepped away from the so‑called big five leagues.
“Too good for that”
Carragher’s frustration isn’t aimed at Trabzonspor as a club, but at what he believes Salah is giving up: visibility at the very top and the relentless edge of elite competition. In his mind, the 34‑year‑old should have been walking into a historic dressing room in Italy, not one that finished third in the Super Lig last season.
While Trabzonspor celebrate a seismic coup, Carragher sees a missed opportunity. He expected Salah to follow a path closer to Cristiano Ronaldo’s – staying at a “prestigious” institution, keeping his name in lights in the biggest arenas.
“I was convinced he'd end up at an AC Milan or Juventus or somewhere like that, maybe his wages were a problem,” he admitted. “I don't know him, obviously have never spoken to him. But he's like Ronaldo, he's so driven, his numbers mean so much to him. I thought, he can still do this in Turkey by the way, but I thought he'd want to play at a real prestigious club.”
The numbers behind the move are hefty. Reports in Turkey suggest Trabzonspor have assembled a package worth around €17 million per year to lure Salah to the Black Sea coast. For Carragher, that only reinforces his central concern: that the lure of a lucrative deal has dragged one of the game’s great competitors into a league he considers less demanding.
Super Lig spotlight, smaller stage
Trabzonspor will have European nights – they are bound for the Europa League next season – but Carragher is not convinced the weekly grind matches Salah’s stature, especially for a player who recently walked away from a £400,000‑a‑week contract at Liverpool.
“Obviously his wage demands have put a few people off but I thought he might almost curb those demands a little bit to almost get a better club,” Carragher continued. “To go to an AC Milan or Juventus or whoever it may be, play at the San Siro, still playing in big games, still playing in Europe. Turkey just feels like... I just think he's better than that.”
That line cuts to the heart of his criticism. In Carragher’s eyes, Salah still belongs in the sharpest end of the Champions League, where every goal adds to a legacy measured against the giants of his era.
A new kingdom in the north
Salah, though, appears unmoved by that external debate. All indications from Turkey are that he is fully committed to his new adventure in the country’s football‑mad north. At Trabzonspor he will link up with familiar Premier League faces, including Manchester United loanee Andre Onana and former Manchester City defender Stefan Savic, as the club builds a squad designed to punch hard at home and abroad.
The “Egyptian King” leaves Liverpool with every major trophy ticked off – Premier League, Champions League and everything in between – and a goalscoring record that has already secured his place in Anfield folklore. The question now is how this Turkish chapter will sit alongside that glittering body of work.
If the scenes at Istanbul Atatürk Airport are any guide, he will not be short of adoration. The reception was wild, bordering on religious fervour, a hint of the status that awaits him in Trabzon. The club last lifted the domestic title in 2022; they are gambling that Salah’s star power and ruthless end product can close the gap to Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.
Carragher may see a step down. Trabzonspor see the man who could drag them back to the summit. The season will decide which vision wins.
