Mohamed Salah Signs with Trabzonspor After Liverpool Exit
Mohamed Salah has taken his next step. Not to Saudi Arabia. Not to Serie A. To Trabzonspor.
The 34-year-old has signed a two-year deal with the Turkish Super Lig club after ending his Liverpool contract a year early, drawing a line under nine extraordinary years at Anfield. Club legend status secured. Exit anything but simple.
His departure from Liverpool followed a turbulent final season, one that saw him dropped and embroiled in a public fallout with then-head coach Arne Slot. For a player who had become the face of the club, it was a jarring end. The agreement to terminate his deal, originally running to April 2025, underlined how far things had shifted in a short space of time.
Salah leaves Merseyside as one of the greatest to wear the shirt. Seven major trophies. Third on the club’s all-time scoring list. A remarkable 257 goals in 442 games, numbers that place him in the same breath as Liverpool’s most storied forwards. That kind of output usually buys a gentler goodbye. This one came with sharp edges.
The move itself is striking. Only three years ago, Liverpool rejected a £150m offer from Al Ittihad. Saudi Arabia’s Pro League has hovered around Salah for some time, money ready, spotlight guaranteed. When he delivered a bombshell interview after being dropped at Leeds last season, the smart money said he would finally head to the Gulf.
He has gone to the Black Sea instead.
Why Trabzonspor works for Salah
Strip away the emotion and the choice makes hard sense. Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol outlined the calculation: a reported £15m a year in wages, a favourable tax landscape for professional footballers in Turkey, and a league that still crackles with intensity and noise.
Trabzon is not a quiet landing spot. Trabzonspor’s support is fierce, the club a genuine heavyweight in Turkey, and there is a strong chance of Europa League football next season. For a player still obsessed with numbers and legacy, European competition matters. So does the feeling of playing in big, meaningful games, even if the stage is slightly smaller than the one he has just left.
The deal, on paper, ticks the boxes. Strong salary. Passionate environment. Continental football. A clear role as the main man again after a fractured final year at Liverpool.
Yet the debate around the move has already started.
Carragher: ‘He’s better than that’
Jamie Carragher did not hide his surprise. Speaking on Sky Sports, the former Liverpool defender questioned the level of Salah’s new destination.
“I never believed he was going to go to Saudi, because number one, he's too good for that,” Carragher said. “I think he can be playing in Serie A. Turkey for me feels a level too low.”
Carragher expected a different script. AC Milan. Juventus. A final act at a grand old European institution, under the lights at San Siro or in Turin, still chasing titles at the sharp end of the Champions League or Europa League.
“I was convinced he'd end up at AC Milan or Juventus or somewhere like that; maybe his wages were a problem,” he added. For Carragher, Salah belongs among the sport’s aristocracy, not just its passionate outposts.
He drew a comparison with Cristiano Ronaldo: obsessive, driven, fuelled by numbers and legacy. In Carragher’s eyes, that kind of mentality usually drags a player toward the most prestigious stage available, even if it means trimming wage demands.
“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 said. “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.”
A new kind of proving ground
That is the crux of the argument. Has Salah stepped down too far, too soon, or has he simply chosen a different route to extend his prime?
From his side, the logic is clear enough: a lucrative contract, a league that still carries weight, the chance to compete in Europe, and a city that will embrace him as its star. From the outside, the question lingers: could he still have led the line for a Milan, a Juventus, a club that sits closer to the centre of the European game?
What is certain is that the expectations in Trabzon will be immense. A player who once commanded £150m bids now arrives for free, with a point to prove and a reputation to protect.
Liverpool is behind him. Saudi Arabia can wait. Turkey, and Trabzonspor, now become the stage on which Salah must show whether this is the gentle fade of a great career or the start of one more surge.
