Mo Salah's Surprising Move to Trabzonspor: Carragher's Reaction
Jamie Carragher can’t quite believe it. Mo Salah, still one of the game’s most ruthless forwards, has turned his back on Europe’s traditional powerbase and chosen Trabzonspor.
Speaking on the Football Ramble, the former Liverpool defender laid bare his surprise that the 34-year-old has left the “big five” stage behind.
“I never believed he was going to go to Saudi, because number one, he's too good for that,” Carragher said. “I think he can be playing in Serie A. Turkey for me feels a level too low.”
That’s the crux of it for Carragher. Not that Trabzonspor haven’t pulled off a coup – they absolutely have – but that a player of Salah’s stature, a player who has spent years trading blows with Europe’s elite, has stepped away from the sharpest edge of the sport.
Carragher wanted an Italian chapter
In Carragher’s eyes, the script should have read differently. Cristiano Ronaldo wrote one version: stay at a “prestigious” club for as long as your body and numbers allow. Carragher expected Salah to follow something similar.
He admitted he was convinced the Egyptian would land at a historic Italian institution, not in Trabzon with last season’s third-placed side in the Super Lig.
“I was convinced he'd end up at an AC Milan or Juventus or somewhere like that, maybe his wages were a problem,” Carragher 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.”
That comparison is telling. Carragher sees Salah as a machine for goals and records, a player obsessed with output and legacy. Which is why the destination jars for him.
“I thought, he can still do this in Turkey by the way,” he continued, “but I thought he'd want to play at a real prestigious club.”
Prestige vs payday
The heart of Carragher’s criticism is simple: in his view, Salah has traded the glare of the very top for a lucrative comfort zone.
To get the deal done, Trabzonspor reportedly assembled a package worth €17 million per year. Serious money, even for someone who walked away from a £400,000‑a‑week contract at Liverpool.
Trabzonspor will be in the Europa League next season, so this is not footballing exile. There will be European nights, there will be cameras. Carragher still thinks the weekly grind is a step down for a player of Salah’s calibre.
“Obviously his wage demands have put a few people off,” he said, “but I thought he might almost curb those demands a little bit to almost get a better club.
“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.”
That line hangs in the air: “better than that.” For Carragher, this is about stage, not just salary.
A new kingdom in the Black Sea
Salah, though, has made his choice and looks fully committed to it. He heads to the north of Turkey to lead a club desperate to smash the Istanbul duopoly and reclaim a domestic title they last lifted in 2022.
He will not be alone. Trabzonspor have built a dressing room with familiar faces for Premier League followers: Manchester United loanee Andre Onana and former Manchester City defender Stefan Savic among them. It is a squad being constructed with ambition, not nostalgia.
The “Egyptian King” leaves Liverpool with everything: Premier League, Champions League, every major trophy that defined the Klopp era. His numbers, his moments, his aura on Merseyside are beyond dispute.
Now he walks into a different kind of fever. The scenes at Istanbul Atatürk Airport told their own story. The reception bordered on religious; flares, flags, and a crowd that looked ready to crown him on the spot. If Carragher worries about prestige, the people greeting Salah see only a superstar descending into their world.
Trabzonspor are gambling that his presence can close the gap to Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, that his goals can tilt a title race and shift the balance of power.
Carragher may see a step down. Turkey sees a king arriving at his new throne. The season will decide who read the moment better.
