It was one of the most curious transfers of the summer. After leaving Liverpool as the Premier League’s all-time leading foreign goalscorer, Momo Salah did not choose the United States for the later years of his career. He did not take one of the lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia either, which would have made him an even greater symbol among Muslim athletes, nor did he seek another experience in one of Europe’s top five leagues while slightly lowering his wage demands. Instead, he chose Turkey. Trabzonspor. An unexpected choice.
The contract is certainly a substantial one: Turkish football has become one of the most financially rewarding markets in the game, although there are already signs of tension around this new partnership. According to L’Équipe, Salah has agreed a two-year deal worth €17 million per season, with a €5 million bonus, 20% of revenue from shirt sales and more than 100,000 shirts already personalised with his name before the official announcement.
Salah’s arrival is one of the most significant signings ever made in Turkish football, and carries particular weight in Trabzon, the port city overlooking the Black Sea. For several days, a truck has been travelling through the steep streets of Trebizond carrying a huge image of Salah in Trabzonspor’s burgundy and blue shirt. The club, behind only Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş among Turkey’s traditional powers, has long been the sporting identity of the city.
The excitement surrounding the former Liverpool forward’s arrival has also brought questions, especially over the financial side of the deal. Salah’s salary would be by far the highest in the Süper Lig: André Onana, the second-highest paid player in the squad, earns around €3.5 million a year, a figure far removed from the €17 million guaranteed to the Egyptian. This comes at a delicate moment for the club, which until only a few weeks ago was dealing with reports of delayed payments to employees and debts that stood at around €91 million last February.
Trabzonspor did raise significant sums from the summer market, with Christ Inao-Oulaï joining Fiorentina for €26 million and Felipe Augusto moving to Zenit St Petersburg for another €15 million. Yet several Turkish newspapers have also suggested that political support may have helped make the move possible. Much of the speculation has centred on Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law and a prominent supporter of the club. Club president Ertuğrul Doğan has also maintained close ties with Erdoğan’s political circle.