{"id":579341,"date":"2026-08-09T09:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T09:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/579341\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T09:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T09:18:10","slug":"how-trabzonspor-shocked-turkish-rivals-to-make-mohamed-salah-their-black-sea-saviour-mohamed-salah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/579341\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trabzonspor shocked Turkish rivals to make Mohamed Salah their Black Sea saviour | Mohamed Salah"},"content":{"rendered":"

It began with a text sent during the World Cup. Ertugrul Dogan, the president of Trabzonspor, was watching Egypt when he picked up his phone and messaged his manager, Fatih Tekke. \u201cCoach,\u201d it read. \u201cDo you want Mohamed Salah<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tekke\u2019s response was immediate enthusiasm, though Trabzonspor\u2019s initial push for Salah went under the radar. For weeks, Besiktas looked most likely to land the former Liverpool striker. In Turkish football, Istanbul\u2019s Big Three \u2013 Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas \u2013 have long held a financial and cultural monopoly on the S\u00fcper Lig\u2019s marquee signings.<\/p>\n

Istanbul is not the capital, but it is the undisputed financial, cultural and commercial heartbeat of the country and wider region. It came as a shock, then, when Salah opted for Trabzonspor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The club are by no means minnows. They form part of the traditional Big Four alongside their Istanbul rivals. Yet the football-crazy port city on the eastern Black Sea coast lacks the cosmopolitan lifestyle Istanbul offers. What it possesses instead is devotion. Most Turkish cities lack a strong local football identity, with residents supporting one of the major Istanbul sides from afar. Trabzon is one of the few exceptions. The entire region eats, sleeps and breathes for its team.<\/p>\n

Trabzon is like the Newcastle of Turkey: a proud, working-class city in the north-east with an industrial maritime past, deeply tied to its football club and trying to forge a new identity to adapt to the modern world.<\/p>\n

Salah\u2019s arrival has thrust a city that often feels politically and geographically sidelined into the global spotlight. This transfer is bigger than football. Trabzon wants to revitalise the city as a maritime trade, tourism and logistics hub. The arrival of the Egyptian superstar ensures an even bigger spotlight on the city.<\/p>\n

An excited Trabzonspor fan decked in traditional claret and sky blue colours sports sunglasses decorated with new signing Mohamed Salah. Photograph: \u00dcmit Bekta\u015f\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The chaotic scenes at Trabzon airport on Wednesday \u2013 when supporters turned the terminal into a sea of red flares, followed by tens of thousands packing Papara Park for his signing ceremony \u2013 demonstrated their fervour.<\/p>\n

Salah could easily have accepted lucrative proposals in the Saudi Pro League or Major League Soccer, but their fan culture pales by comparison. Crucially, the 34-year-old remains in a highly competitive league in the Uefa zone; Trabzonspor need only navigate the playoff rounds for a place in the Europa League main stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am seeing a reception like this for the first time in my life,\u201d Salah told the roaring crowd during his signing ceremony. \u201cI came here to win trophies. I am here to bring titles to this club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trabzonspor have played the role of disruptors in Turkish football \u2013 the Black Sea rebels who broke Istanbul\u2019s stranglehold in the 1970s and most recently won the league title in 2021\u201322. Never before, however, has a player of this magnitude rejected Istanbul for Trabzon.<\/p>\n

Salah takes a photo as the fans offer a hearty welcome. Photograph: \u00dcmit Bekta\u015f\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The Turkish top flight is experiencing a renaissance. Leandro Trossard joined Besiktas after a title-winning campaign with Arsenal; Victor Osimhen continues to spearhead Galatasaray\u2019s attack; while Nathan Ak\u00e9 and Mason Greenwood now line up for Fenerbahce. The league is also developing world-class homegrown talent, with Arda G\u00fcler at Real Madrid and Ferdi Kad\u0131oglu at Brighton serving as prime examples.<\/p>\n

Trabzonspor\u2019s pursuit of Salah was executed in the shadows. The club deployed their former winger Mahmoud Hassan \u2013 known as Tr\u00e9z\u00e9guet \u2013 as their secret operative. Salah\u2019s international teammate spoke with the Egyptian captain daily, to help convince him to consider the move.<\/p>\n

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There was a cultural element, too: moving to a welcoming, Muslim-majority nation where Salah and his family could feel immediately at home. Trabzonspor locked him into a two-year contract through to June 2028 and disclosed the financial details on the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). Salah will earn a base annual salary of \u20ac10m (\u00a38.5m) alongside a guaranteed \u20ac7m annual signing bonus, netting him \u20ac17m per season (\u20ac34m net over two years).<\/p>\n

Because wages in Turkey are paid net, with the club covering all tax liabilities, Salah in effect takes home 50% more than his final Liverpool contract. The deal also includes performance add-ons, a 5% agent\u2019s fee on gross wages and an extraordinary image-rights agreement granting Salah a 20% royalty on all personal merchandise sold through the club\u2019s official TS Club retail network.<\/p>\n

The commercial return was immediate. Within 24 hours of Salah landing, Trabzonspor sold more than 17,000 season tickets, generating \u00a311m. President Dogan confirmed that total projected revenue from tickets, sponsorships and merchandise during the Salah era is expected to approach \u00a322m, in effect self-funding the transfer.<\/p>\n

Trabzonspor supporters unveil a banner celebrating Salah. Photograph: Nurgul Gunaydin\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Crucially, Trabzonspor did not overextend themselves. Balanced by roughly \u20ac95m raised in player sales since last season, the transfer is manageable financially. Salah joins a side on an upward trajectory under Tekke. Languishing in 13th when Tekke took over in March 2025, the team recovered to finish eight points behind the champions, Galatasaray, in third and won the Turkish Cup.<\/p>\n

Tekke added the Valencia defender Cenk \u00d6zka\u00e7ar and the Manchester United loanee Andr\u00e9 Onana in goal and Trabzonspor are in talks with Darwin N\u00fa\u00f1ez.<\/p>\n

Taking his favoured No 10 shirt, Salah steps into a side in the ascendant. Yet the challenge remains steep. Galatasaray have won four consecutive league titles, while Besiktas and Fenerbahce have spent lavishly this summer. Trabzonspor will be hoping his arrival serves as a catalyst for a change in fortunes.<\/p>\n

For Trabzon and the eastern region, however, Salah\u2019s arrival is far more than a transfer story. The tide could be turning back in the favour of the Black Sea Storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It began with a text sent during the World Cup. Ertugrul Dogan, the president of Trabzonspor, was watching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-579341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}