Salah given hero's welcome before Trabzonspor move

Turkish club Trabzonspor are set to confirm the signing of Mohamed Salah as the Egypt captain was mobbed by fans on his arrival in Turkey.

Hundreds of fans gathered outside Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on Wednesday as Salah emerged wearing Trabzonspor colours before engaging with the excited crowd.

The 34-year-old forward left Liverpool at the end of last season after nine years on Merseyside, scoring 257 goals.

It is unclear what Salah will earn at Trabzonspor, but as he is a free agent, the Super Lig club will have been able to commit more of their budget towards Salah's wages.

Salah, who has scored 50 Champions League goals, will play European football with Trabzonspor next season after they finished third, eight points behind champions Galatasaray.

If they fail to progress to the league phase of the Europa League via the play-offs, they will drop down to the Conference League.

Salah became Liverpool's highest earner in their history when he signed a reported £400,000-a-week contract in April 2025.

Nicknamed the Black Sea Storm, Trabzonspor have won seven league titles, six of which came between 1976 and 1984.

In 2022, they claimed their most recent league success, ending a 38-year wait.

Based in the north-eastern city of Trabzon, they are one of only six teams to have won the Turkish Super Lig.

Salah's signing will go down as the club's biggest as he joins former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe in donning the claret and sky blue shirt.

He helped the Liverpool to win two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the Club World Cup, Uefa Super Cup, FA Cup and two EFL Cups.

During his time in England, the Egyptian won the Premier League Golden Boot on four occasions and was named the Professional Footballers' Association player of the year three times - in 2018, 2022 and 2025.

But despite scoring 29 goals and making 18 assists in Liverpool's 2024-25 title-winning season, Salah's minutes diminished the following campaign after a falling out with former Reds head coach Arne Slot.

Since announcing he would be leaving Liverpool a year before his two-year contract extension ended, the football world has been wondering where he would next be playing.

After a successful World Cup campaign where Egypt reached the round of 16 for the first time before narrowly losing to Argentina, Salah was reported to be close to an agreement with a different Turkish club, Besiktas.

With a deal breaking down reportedly because of finances, Salah reached an agreement instead with Trabzonspor.

The Turkish side took to their social media on Tuesday night to tease the arrival of Salah with the Pyramids being shown on a video next to Papara Park.

But, following swiftly was another post stating "negotiations had begun" between Salah and Trabzonspor before showing how Salah's Wednesday flight into Istanbul could be tracked.

"Trabzon, are you ready? See you very soon," he said in a video onboard a private jet and posted on social media.

Trabzonpor's flight tracking came in handy as a huge amount of fans gathered outside the airport to welcome Salah, who was greeted like a movie star.

As one of sport's biggest global stars, this transfer for Trabzonspor is huge.

Their current squad includes on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, as well as a couple of Cape Verde's World Cup stars in Wagner Pina and Sidny Lopes Cabral.

There can be little doubt that Trabzonspor have completed one of the biggest transfers in Turkish football history.

The country is no stranger to global stars: Roberto Carlos, Didier Drogba, Robin van Persie, Samuel Eto'o, Mesut Ozil and Wesley Sneijder have all played in the Super Lig.

This season, supporters will be able to watch N'Golo Kante and Ederson at Fenerbahce; Victor Osimhen, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane at Galatasaray; and now Salah at Trabzonspor.

A transfer of this magnitude however represents a significant departure for Trabzonspor who, while competing for the title, have focused on developing young players and identifying talent with resale potential.

With the league increasingly dominated by Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, enthusiasm among Trabzonspor supporters had appeared to fade and Papara Park was often below capacity.

The signing of Salah is an attempt to change that.

His arrival should bring supporters back and significantly increase shirt sales. It could also broaden Trabzonspor's commercial appeal across the Middle East, while generating particular interest among the Arab community in Trabzon and visitors to the city.

It is a bold change in strategy for Trabzonspor and Salah offers a renewed sense of excitement.