Mohamed Salah has arrived in Istanbul wearing Trabzonspor’s burgundy and blue colours as he prepares to complete an expected move to the Turkish Super Lig club from Liverpool.
The Egyptian forward was greeted by hundreds of supporters at Ataturk Airport on Wednesday, with fans gathering to catch a first glimpse of the 34-year-old. Salah smiled, waved to the crowd and joined them in a traditional chant before leaving for a medical examination.
He is then expected to travel east for a planned arrival in Trabzon, where Trabzonspor chairman Ertugrul Dogan has said the club expects to complete the signing at a ceremony on Thursday.
Trabzonspor announced on Tuesday that negotiations with Salah were under way. The club also published a video on X in which the player addressed supporters directly.
“Trabzon, are you ready? I can hear you. See you very soon,” Salah said.
Wearing a Trabzonspor shirt, he added: “Everywhere is Trabzon to us,” referring to the club’s motto.
The proposed transfer would bring Salah’s nine-year spell with Liverpool to an end. During his time at Anfield, he scored 257 goals in 442 appearances and helped the club win the Premier League twice and the Champions League once.
His most productive campaign came in the 2024-25 season, when he scored 29 Premier League goals and supplied 18 assists. That total equalled the competition record for goal involvements in a single season and set a new record for a 38-match campaign.
Salah was named Premier League Player of the Season and collected both the Golden Boot and Playmaker Award. He became the first player to win all three honours in the same campaign.
His form dipped last season, however, as he scored seven goals and provided seven assists in 27 league appearances. He was also left on the bench for Champions League matches, contributing to a public disagreement with Liverpool’s manager at the time, Arne Slot.
Salah began his European career with Swiss club Basel in 2012 before moving to Chelsea. He spent short periods with Fiorentina and AS Roma between 2015 and 2017, then joined Liverpool.
Trabzonspor are widely regarded as the fourth-biggest club in Turkey behind Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas. They finished third in the Super Lig last season and will enter the Europa League play-off round.
The club’s most recent league title came in the 2021-22 season.
Salah had also been close to joining Besiktas, but local media reported that discussions broke down over financial terms and image-rights demands.
The financial and sporting details of the contract Salah is expected to sign with Trabzonspor have not yet been disclosed.
