Turkish club Trabzonspor begin talks to sign Salah

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Trabzonspor have confirmed they are in active negotiations to sign Mohamed Salah, moving to the front of the queue for the free-agent forward after Beşiktaş suspended their own pursuit. Chairman Ertuğrul Doğan has voiced hope the 34-year-old Egyptian will complete the move within days, with Salah expected in Istanbul for a medical before travelling to the Black Sea coast to sign.

The proposed deal — a two-year contract reported to be worth €17m (£14.6m) a season — would make Salah the highest-paid player in Turkish football history and rank among the most significant transfers the Süper Lig has ever staged.

From Anfield exit to a free-agent scramble

Salah has been available on a free transfer since leaving Liverpool this summer, having announced back in March that he would depart Anfield at the end of the 2025-26 campaign. His nine seasons on Merseyside produced 257 goals in 442 appearances and a trophy haul few English imports have matched: the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

That record turned him into one of the most coveted free agents in world football the moment his Liverpool contract ran down. Rather than the Saudi Pro League or Major League Soccer — the destinations widely predicted for a player of his age and profile — it is the Turkish top flight that has produced the most concrete offer.

Trabzonspor initially moved carefully. When the first reports of an agreement surfaced, the club publicly denied a deal was in place, insisting talks with Salah’s representatives were ongoing rather than concluded. That caution has since given way to open confidence, with Doğan telling supporters he expects the signing to be finalised this week.

How Trabzonspor jumped the queue

For much of the saga, Beşiktaş looked the likelier destination. The Istanbul club had reached a verbal agreement with Salah’s camp over a one-plus-one-year contract worth a reported €10m net per season plus €2m in bonuses. Those talks then stalled, and Beşiktaş officially suspended negotiations until further notice — the opening Trabzonspor needed.

Trabzonspor’s pitch is built on money and merchandise. Beyond the €17m annual salary, first reported by Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu, the club have offered Salah a 20% cut of revenue from products bearing his name, a commercial sweetener designed to reflect his global marketability rather than simply his goals. For a club chasing relevance in an era dominated by state-backed Gulf sides and Europe’s established elite, the branding upside of a Salah signing may matter as much as the football.

The financials underline how far the balance of transfer power has shifted. A decade ago, a Ballon d’Or contender in his mid-30s would have been drawn almost exclusively toward the Premier League or La Liga. Now leagues once treated as career footnotes are competing directly for that talent — and, in Trabzonspor’s case, willing to break their domestic wage ceiling to land it.

What it means for Trabzonspor and the Süper Lig

Trabzonspor last won the Süper Lig in 2021-22, ending a 38-year title drought, but have since slipped behind the Istanbul giants. Signing Salah would be a statement of ambition aimed squarely at closing that gap, both on the pitch and in the club’s commercial reach across Europe and the Middle East, where his profile is enormous.

There are risks. Salah turns 35 next year, and €17m a season is a substantial commitment for a player whose most explosive form may be behind him. His late Liverpool seasons showed a forward adapting his game, leaning on positioning and finishing rather than raw pace, and the Süper Lig’s physical, counter-attacking rhythm could suit that evolution.

For the wider Turkish league, the arrival of a genuine modern great would be a marketing coup, drawing international broadcast attention that clubs there have long chased. Should Salah put pen to paper in Trabzon this week, it will stand as one of the defining transfers of the summer — and a marker of how thoroughly the sport’s economic map has been redrawn.

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