Salah Lands in Istanbul in Trabzonspor Kit, Signs Thursday

The arrivals gate at Ataturk Airport looked like a stadium stand on Wednesday. Hundreds of people pushed against each other, phones raised above heads, security cutting a corridor through the crowd. In the middle of that corridor stood Mohamed Salah, in Trabzonspor’s maroon and blue kit, waving to fans with both hands as if he had just walked off the pitch rather than out of a plane.

The Egyptian landed in Istanbul on August 5, 2026, wearing the kit of a club he has not yet signed for.

He did not linger over the greetings. He led fans in a club chant, then headed off for a medical and a flight to Trabzon. In a video the club posted on X, he said:

Trabzon, are you ready? I hear you. See you very soon.

He also repeated the club’s motto, everywhere is Trabzon for us, still wearing the kit he had put on for the arrival. Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan announced that the club expects to hold the signing ceremony in Trabzon on Thursday. There is no transfer fee. Salah is a free agent.

Nine years, 257 goals and one parting

The contract Salah signed with Liverpool in April 2025 was terminated by mutual agreement a year before it was due to expire. That closes out nine seasons at Anfield, in which Salah became the third highest scorer in the club’s history.

• 257 goals in 442 matches for Liverpool
• two Premier League titles and one Champions League, seven major trophies in total
• 2024/25 season: 29 goals and 18 assists

Then the curve dropped. In his final season at Anfield he managed seven goals and seven assists in 27 league matches, was left out of the side, and publicly clashed with then manager Arne Slot.

The gap between those two seasons amounts to an entire player. His direct goal involvement fell from 47 to 14, a number that explains why no offer arrived this summer from the top of European football for a player with that record.

Why Trabzonspor?

Money is the first answer, though not the biggest money on the table. According to Sky Sports, Salah’s salary at Trabzonspor will be around 17 million pounds a year, less than at Liverpool and well below what clubs from Saudi Arabia were offering.

Former Premier League defender John Curtis, speaking on Sky Sports, said: “The obvious reason is money. I’m sure of that. I think the figure being talked about is around 17 million a year, something like that.”

The two numbers sit side by side. Just under three years earlier, Liverpool turned down 150 million pounds offered for Salah by Saudi club Al Ittihad. Now the same player has left for nothing, and the club that kept him back then never collected on that rejection either. Salah was also close to joining Besiktas this summer, but talks stalled over finances and image rights.

What the Black Sea club gets

In Turkey’s football hierarchy, Trabzonspor ranks behind the three Istanbul giants, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas. The club finished third in the Super Lig last season, which puts it into the Europa League playoff round. Its last league title came in the 2021/22 season.

For a club like that, signing a player who was the best in the Premier League a year and a half ago is a lift heading into both domestic derbies and European qualifiers. The calculation is simple: age carries the risk, the name carries the reward. Turkish clubs have made that trade before, and have almost always paid for it in wages rather than transfer fees.

Contract details have not been made public yet. The next date is Thursday and the ceremony in Trabzon, only then does this stop being an announcement.

My read: Salah will not have to cover the ground in the Turkish Super Lig that he did at Anfield, and at 34 that is exactly what extends a career. If Trabzonspor builds a team that feeds him in the box, a double digit goal tally comes without a fight. If not, this stays a transfer that sold more shirts than it delivered points.