Coverage spread: 3 sources — 1 left · 2 unrated
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Mohamed Salah, 34, left Liverpool as a free agent after his contract expired and has signed a two-year deal with Turkey’s Trabzonspor.
- The move is widely described as surprising, since Salah was expected to join Saudi Pro League or MLS clubs instead of staying in top-flight European competition.
- Trabzonspor finished third in last season’s Süper Lig and will compete in the UEFA Europa League playoff round this season.
- Salah’s Liverpool exit followed a difficult final season marked by tension with manager Arne Slot and a public dispute over his role and treatment.
Where they differ
- Sporting News focuses heavily on the financial details, reporting Salah’s reported €424,600 weekly wage at Trabzonspor versus his prior €466,900 at Liverpool.
- CBS Sports gives the fullest account of Salah’s Liverpool statistics, trophies, and the breakdown with Slot, including his AFCON comments accusing the coach of “throwing him under the bus.”
- The Guardian frames the story through club history and color, recounting Liverpool’s grim 1976 trip to Trabzon and quoting Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan’s arrival statement, rather than focusing on transfer mechanics.
- Only CBS Sports mentions Salah’s World Cup run with Egypt and the round-of-16 exit to Argentina, and only it names Andoni Iraola as Slot’s successor at Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah, 34, has signed a two-year contract with Turkish club Trabzonspor after leaving Liverpool as a free agent this summer, ending a nine-year spell on Merseyside. The move surprised many observers who expected the Egyptian winger to head to Saudi Arabia or Major League Soccer, and instead sees him stay in European competition with a mid-table Turkish giant.
What are the terms of the deal?
Salah has signed a two-year contract keeping him at Trabzonspor until the summer of 2028. According to reports from Turkey relayed by The Sun and cited by Sporting News, he will earn roughly €424,600 a week in salary and bonuses — close to, though somewhat less than, the approximately €466,900 a week he was reportedly paid at Liverpool. He was unveiled to fans in Trabzon wearing the No. 61 shirt, having flown in through Istanbul.
Why Trabzonspor over Saudi Arabia or MLS?
CBS Sports notes Salah had been in talks with both MLS clubs and Saudi Pro League sides this summer, options that typically offer bigger paydays but a lower standard of competition. Sporting News frames the choice for Trabzonspor as a sign Salah still wants to test himself in top-level European football rather than cash in elsewhere. Trabzonspor is Turkey’s fourth-most popular club, behind Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, but finished third in last season’s Süper Lig, which secures the club a spot in the playoff round of the UEFA Europa League. They face either Ferencváros of Hungary or Poland’s Górnik Zabrze over two legs, on August 20 and 27, for a place in the group stage.
How did Salah’s Liverpool career end?
Salah leaves Liverpool as one of the club’s greatest-ever players, having scored 257 goals in 442 appearances over nine seasons. His trophy haul includes two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the FA Cup and two EFL Cups, along with four Premier League Golden Boots and three PFA Player of the Year awards (2018, 2022, 2025). But CBS Sports details a rockier final act: despite signing a contract extension in 2025 and posting 29 goals and 18 assists as Liverpool won the league under Arne Slot, Salah’s relationship with the Dutch manager soured. Slot dropped him for three straight games in late December, and Salah, while away with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, publicly said Slot had “thrown him under the bus” over the team’s poor results and questioned whether he had any relationship with the coach or would even stay past January. He returned from AFCON and was reintegrated but never regained a regular starting role. In March 2026 he announced he would leave as a free agent; two months later Liverpool moved on from Slot and hired Andoni Iraola. Salah also led Egypt at the 2026 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the round of 16 by Argentina after a late Lionel Messi-driven comeback.
What history exists between Liverpool and Trabzonspor?
The Guardian points out the two clubs have a long-running, half-joking rivalry in club lore, dating back to a 1976 European Cup second-round tie. Liverpool figures from that era, including manager Bob Paisley and goalkeeper Ray Clemence, complained bitterly about the pitch, the hotel, the ball and even being woken by farm animals at 5am during that trip — Liverpool lost the away leg but went on to win the tournament that season. The Guardian notes Trabzon has since transformed into what travel guides call the most sophisticated city in the region, and that fans turned out in force to greet Salah, consistent with a fanbase known for mobbing arriving signings. Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan issued a statement calling Salah a “global superstar” and saying the club wanted to send a message that it “can bring whoever it wants to Trabzon.”
Why does this move matter?
The signing is notable less for Trabzonspor’s stature and more for what it says about how Salah wants to close out his career: staying in a competitive European league and continental competition rather than following the well-worn path of aging superstars to Saudi Arabia or the United States. It also caps a turbulent final season at Liverpool, where a title-winning campaign was overshadowed by a public breakdown with his manager.
Sources
Featured photo: Saiflee100 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)