Mohamed Salah has joined Trabzonspor, with the Turkish club confirming the move by posting pictures of the Egyptian forward wearing its shirt aboard his flight to Istanbul on Wednesday. The images, shared on Trabzonspor’s official Instagram account, arrived shortly after a club statement announcing that negotiations had begun to sign the free agent. According to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, Salah has signed a two-year contract running to June 2028.
Few predicted Trabzon as Salah’s next stop. Throughout the summer the 34-year-old was linked with moves across three continents: the Saudi Pro League, where Al-Ittihad had reportedly made an offer; Major League Soccer, where ESPN reported clubs made enquiries over his availability after the World Cup; and a return to one of Europe’s top five leagues, with Gazzetta dello Sport reporting that he was considering a reunion with former club Roma and Spanish outlets linking him with Atlético Madrid as a successor to Antoine Griezmann. Instead, it is the Süper Lig that has landed one of the most decorated players of his generation.
Within Turkey, the race was contested too. Beşiktaş moved first, presenting Salah with a contract offer and holding direct talks that saw his representatives travel to Istanbul, with reports suggesting he had lowered his salary expectations to push the move through. Those negotiations collapsed over financial terms, and Beşiktaş director Önder Özen confirmed publicly that the club would not raise its offer and that the file had been shelved, clearing the way for Trabzonspor to accelerate their own talks. President Ertuğrul Doğan said negotiations with Salah’s camp took around ten days, describing the forward as ‘a world-class player’ and calling the signing a major step for the club.
Salah had been a free agent since leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2025-26 season, closing a nine-year spell in which he scored 257 goals in 442 appearances and won the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup. His final campaign at Anfield was a difficult one, yielding seven league goals amid reduced minutes and a public falling out with then-manager Arne Slot, though he remains just two seasons removed from a 29-goal, 18-assist title-winning campaign. He then captained Egypt at this summer’s World Cup, where the team recorded its first-ever win at the tournament and reached the round of 16 before falling to Argentina.
