Mohamed Salah chaos at Trabzonspor escalates - but a huge signing is on the way

2 Sept 2026 16:45 BST | 4 min read

Mohamed Salah, Trabzonspor, 2026/27 — © IMAGO

Tom Weber | Writer

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Mohamed Salah has walked into a complete mess at Trabzonspor, and the drama is showing no signs of subsiding.

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The Liverpool legend completed one of the summer's strangest transfers when he decided to move to Turkey but did not join one of the big three of Galatasaray, Fenerbahce or Besiktas.

Instead, he opted to link up with Trabzonspor in a move that was motivated by more than just money. Of course, like all decent-sized Turkish clubs, the Claret-Blues pay very good money compared to the rest of Europe, but there was more at play here.

Current ETV

Mohamed Salah

F, M (R)

Trabzonspor

Mohamed Salah

F, M (R)

Trabzonspor

ETV Range

€25.6M - €31.3M

At Trabzonspor, Salah is the centre of attention, the undisputed superstar, a status befitting a player of his calibre. Moreover, he and his young family are likely to have at least a little more privacy in a city of 350,000 souls than they would have had in the bustling metropolis of Istanbul.

For Trabzonspor, signing Salah was a coup. They have made some ambitious signings in recent years, but none even remotely as eye-catching as this. So far, however, the Egyptian's time in Turkey has been a nightmare.

Trabzonspor chaos escalates

The club's start to the season has been nothing short of disastrous. In the Super Lig, Trabzonspor only have won win to their name after three games, and it's been even worse in Europe.

The Turkish club crashed out of Europa League qualifying in late August after a humiliating 5-0 aggregate defeat to Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros, which prompted head coach Fatih Tekke to tender his resignation.

Bizarrely, this was turned down by the club's hierarchy, forcing him to stay in charge. In an even more baffling twist, Tekke has now left the club after all, following a 2-1 defeat to Amed SK on Monday.

On Tuesday, while most were paying attention to Deadline Day in Europe's top leagues, Trabzonspor quietly announced that they had terminated Tekke's contract "by mutual consent."

"At the point we have reached today," the club added, "we have arrived at a mutual understanding with our coach -who expressed that he could never accept his presence causing any harm to Trabzonspor in any way - that it is inevitable to chart a new roadmap by placing the club's interests above all else."

The club's board of directors is now leading the search for a new head coach with "meticulous care."

Trabzonspor make Richarlison offer

Amid all of this drama, there is also the small matter of the transfer market. Turkish Super Lig clubs can still do business until Friday, and there could yet be some major moves from the division's big clubs, including Trabzonspor.

On Tuesday, the club announced that the contract of former Premier League midfielder John Lundstram had been terminated - he subsequently joined Leicester - which freed up a foreigner spot.

Trabzonspor, who have also signed ex-Liverpool midfielder Fabinho in addition to Salah, are now working on a potential blockbuster deal for Tottenham striker Richarlison, according to Yagiz Sabuncuoglu.

The Brazilian attacker had an eventful end to the Premier League window, with Spurs attempting to trade him back to Everton in an informal swap deal for Iliman Ndiaye.

This transfer collapsed, however, with Richarlison refusing to return to the Merseyside club and later publishing a statement on Instagram saying that he would "never again" let other people decide his future for him.

Despite the drama and Richarlison seemingly being set to stay at Tottenham, Sabuncuoglu claims that the Brazilian is receptive to Trabzonspor's interest and intrigued by the move. At this stage, no agreement with Spurs has been reached.