Mohamed Salah's Transfer Drama: Trabzonspor vs. Besiktas

For weeks, the story looked simple. Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool icon whose goals lit up Anfield for seven seasons, was supposed to be heading for Istanbul and a fresh start with Besiktas. The money was good, the stage was big, the deal felt inevitable.

Then Trabzonspor walked through the door.

Liverpool and Salah had already agreed to part this summer, a clean break with one year still left on his hefty contract. The Egyptian was earning around £400,000 a week on Merseyside, a wage that once looked like a bargain when he was shredding defences and rewriting club records.

Last season changed the mood. The end product dipped sharply, the numbers that once insulated him from criticism suddenly disappeared. When the goals and assists dried up, the other side of his game – the pressing, the tracking back – came under harsh scrutiny. Liverpool chose to reset, to move on from the luxury they could no longer justify.

Besiktas sensed an opening.

They moved earlier and more decisively than most. Saudi Pro League clubs circled. MLS had a look. But it was Besiktas who put a concrete offer on the table and pushed hardest, to the point where they looked to have the deal in their hands. A verbal agreement was in place over a 1+1-year contract worth €10m net per season, plus €2m in bonuses. For a player of Salah’s stature, it was a solid package and, crucially, a clear project.

Then Saturday morning reshaped the picture.

Reliable Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu reported that Trabzonspor had entered the race – not quietly, not cautiously, but with intent. He revealed that the Black Sea club had met Salah’s representative and gone straight in with an official offer: a two-year contract worth €17m per season.

That figure, roughly £280,000 a week, doesn’t quite touch his Liverpool peak salary, but it does something more important: it shows respect for his status and gives him top-tier earnings without the Premier League spotlight. For a 32-year-old forward leaving a European giant, that balance matters.

Sabuncuoğlu added that Salah’s camp relayed the details directly to the player, and the reaction was significant. Salah, he reported, is “positively inclined” towards Trabzonspor’s proposal. No agreement yet, but no dismissal either. The next step is a family decision, and at this stage of his career, that often carries as much weight as footballing logic.

As that news filtered out, the dynamics of the chase flipped.

French reporter Santi Aouna backed up the story, stating that Trabzonspor are “close to hijacking” the transfer. Talks with Salah’s agent have moved into an advanced phase, with the club pushing to reach full agreement. The impact on Besiktas was immediate and brutal: negotiations, Aouna reported, have been officially suspended “until further notice,” despite the Istanbul side believing they had their man lined up.

Besiktas thought they were polishing the final details. Instead, they’ve been left watching a rival wave a bigger contract and a bolder vision under the player’s nose.

This is not the familiar Saudi bidding war many expected when it became clear Salah would leave Liverpool. It is a straight Turkish duel, and Trabzonspor have landed the first heavy blow by offering more money, more security, and a central role in their project.

For Salah, the choice is stark but intriguing.

Besiktas would have given him the bright lights of Istanbul, a huge fanbase, and the pull of a club used to living in the eye of the storm. Trabzonspor offer something different: a fiercely passionate city, a team that thrives on a siege mentality, and a contract that underlines how central he would be to everything they do over the next two seasons.

After years of chasing titles and Champions League nights at Anfield, Salah now stands at a crossroads that would have seemed unthinkable not long ago: not which superclub to join, but which Turkish project to lead.

The money is on the table. The offers are clear.

The next move belongs to Mohamed Salah – and his decision will tell us exactly what he wants from the final chapters of his extraordinary career.