Jamie Carragher's Disappointment Over Mohamed Salah's Move to Trabzonspor
Jamie Carragher did not hide his disbelief.
The former Liverpool defender, speaking on the Football Ramble, admitted he was stunned that Mohamed Salah chose Trabzonspor and the Turkish Super Lig over one last dance in one of Europe’s traditional power leagues.
“I never believed he was going to go to Saudi, because number one, he's too good for that. I think he can be playing in Serie A. Turkey for me feels a level too low,” he said, cutting straight to the point.
Carragher wanted a San Siro send-off
For Carragher, this isn’t about disrespecting Trabzonspor. It’s about what he believes a player of Salah’s stature should demand of the final years of his prime.
While he acknowledged that Trabzonspor have pulled off a “massive coup”, his disappointment is clear. In his mind, Salah should have followed the Cristiano Ronaldo template: stay at a “prestigious” club, keep stacking numbers at the very top, and bow out under the brightest lights.
Carragher admitted he expected the 34-year-old to land at a historic Italian giant, not a side that finished third in the Super Lig last season.
“I was convinced he'd end up at an AC Milan or Juventus or somewhere like that, maybe his wages were a problem,” he said. “I don't know him, obviously have never spoken to him. But he's like Ronaldo, he's so driven, his numbers mean so much to him. I thought, he can still do this in Turkey by the way, but I thought he'd want to play at a real prestigious club.”
The message is blunt: Carragher believes Salah has chosen the wrong stage for the closing chapters of an elite career.
Prestige vs payday
At the heart of his criticism is a familiar modern fault line — prestige and competitive edge on one side, financial power on the other.
To make the move happen, Trabzonspor have reportedly assembled a package worth €17 million per year. Serious money, even for a player who recently walked away from a £400,000‑a‑week contract at Liverpool.
For Carragher, that only deepens the frustration. He feels Salah has traded the week-to-week strain of the very highest level for a softer schedule in a league that, in his view, does not match the Egyptian’s quality.
Even the lure of European football does not sway him. Trabzonspor will compete in the Europa League next season, but Carragher insists the domestic grind in Turkey falls short of what a player of Salah’s calibre should be facing.
“Obviously his wage demands have put a few people off but I thought he might almost curb those demands a little bit to almost get a better club,” he continued. “To go to an AC Milan or Juventus or whoever it may be, play at the San Siro, still playing in big games, still playing in Europe. Turkey just feels like... I just think he's better than that.”
It is a harsh verdict, and a revealing one. In Carragher’s eyes, compromising on salary to secure one last spell at a true European heavyweight would have been the more fitting legacy move.
A new kingdom in the north of Turkey
Salah, though, appears unmoved by the outside noise.
He arrives in the north of Turkey as a superstar, the “Egyptian King” swapping Anfield for Trabzon with a medal collection that includes every major club trophy available to him at Liverpool — Premier League, Champions League, and everything in between. His work on Merseyside is complete.
In Trabzon, he will not be alone. He is set to reunite with familiar Premier League faces, including Manchester United loanee Andre Onana and former Manchester City defender Stefan Savic. There is enough experience in that dressing room to believe this is more than a vanity signing.
And if Carragher questions the stage, the supporters do not. The scenes at Istanbul Atatürk Airport told their own story. The reception bordered on religious fervour, a fanbase treating their new signing as a deity before he has even kicked a ball.
Trabzonspor are desperate to claw back the domestic title they last lifted in 2022. They are betting heavily that Salah’s goals, aura and relentless drive can close the gap on Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.
Carragher may see Turkey as a step down. Trabzonspor see Salah as the man to drag them back to the summit. Only the season ahead will reveal which vision carries more weight.
