Mohamed Salah Joins Trabzonspor: A New Chapter Begins
Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool chapter is over. Nine years, 211 goals, a stack of trophies, and now a sharp left turn that takes him not to Saudi Arabia or Serie A, but to the Black Sea coast and Trabzonspor.
It is a move that surprises on first glance and makes sense on the second. A free transfer, a new league, a club with European ambitions. And, curiously, the same path once taken by another Liverpool forward whose name still stirs memories on the Kop: Daniel Sturridge.
From Anfield icon to Black Sea gamble
Salah has already landed in Turkey, edging towards the formalities of a medical and a contract signing that will seal his switch to Trabzonspor. The deal is not officially over the line yet, but the direction of travel is clear. Liverpool and their 34-year-old forward agreed the summer was the right time to part, even though his contract ran until 2027.
He did not lack options. Besiktas pushed. Al-Ittihad lurked with Saudi money. There were glances from Italy. Salah has chosen something different: a club that finished third in the Super Lig last season and now stands two qualifying rounds away from the Europa League in 2026/27.
This is not a farewell tour. It is a bet that there is still a decisive player inside the man whose final season at Liverpool was his poorest in red, a campaign in which Liverpool only just clung on to a Champions League place.
Walking Sturridge’s old road
The echoes with Sturridge are impossible to ignore. He, too, left Liverpool and sought a reset in Trabzon.
Sturridge arrived in 2019 on a three-year deal, a marquee signing for a club that lives on emotion and noise. On the pitch, he delivered in flashes: seven goals in 16 games, moments that reminded everyone of the striker who once terrorised Premier League defences and dovetailed so devastatingly with Luis Suarez.
But the story never ran its full course. Club and player agreed to terminate the contract early, ending his Turkish spell before it ever truly settled. Another promising chapter cut short.
Sturridge’s journey to that point had already been a tour of English football’s elite. Manchester City as a teenager. Chelsea. A loan at Bolton. Then Liverpool, where across six-and-a-half years he scored 67 goals in 160 appearances and, at his peak, looked like one of Europe’s most dangerous forwards.
After Turkey, he tried again on the other side of the world with Perth Glory in the A-League in 2021/22. Injuries stalked him once more. His first training session did not come until November, a groin problem in February wrecked any rhythm, and by June he was gone, with chief executive Tony Pignata calling the move “disappointing”. Six appearances. One start. No goals. No revival.
Salah will be acutely aware of that cautionary tale. Same club, same dream of reinvention. Very different place in the game.
A new number, a new identity
At Liverpool, Salah was No. 11, a shirt that became shorthand for his era. For Egypt, he wears No. 10. Neither is available in Trabzon.
Ozan Tufan holds 11. Ernest Muci has 10. Salah, instead, has stepped into something far more local: No. 61.
Trabzonspor have already released images of him in the shirt. To outsiders, it is just another number. In the city, it is a badge of belonging. 61 is Trabzon’s license plate code, a symbol woven into the club’s identity and the supporters’ sense of place. Wearing it is a statement: this is not a superstar dropping in for a final payday, this is a player choosing to wrap himself in the club’s culture from day one.
For a fanbase that demands emotional connection as much as end product, that matters.
End of an era, start of an experiment
Liverpool lose not just a forward but a symbol of their modern resurgence. Salah’s goals dragged them to titles at home and in Europe. His consistency underpinned the Jurgen Klopp era. That his final season felt underwhelming only underlines how high he had set the bar.
He could have stayed, seen out another year, and left on a free with another lap of honour. Instead, both sides chose the clean break now. Liverpool move on to the next cycle. Salah heads into something more unpredictable.
Trabzonspor gain a global star, a player whose name alone will tilt cameras and attention towards the Super Lig. If they navigate the qualifying rounds, he will walk out in the Europa League in 2026/27 as the face of a club that has long punched above its financial weight.
The comparison with Sturridge will follow him, at least at first. One former Liverpool forward came to Trabzon seeking a rebirth and left with frustration. The other arrives with a heavier legacy, a deeper catalogue of achievements and, still, a point to prove.
The question now is simple and brutal: does Salah’s story in Europe have another great act in it, or is this the start of the long goodbye?
