‘Enthusiastic’—How Mohamed Salah Fared on Trabzonspor Debut

For the first time in more than nine years, Mohamed Salah took to the field on Saturday in a club jersey that wasn’t Liverpool’s. The Egyptian superstar began his new chapter in Türkiye, pulling on the claret and blue of Trabzonspor to debut against Kasımpaşa.

Salah was greeted by a sea of fans when he touched down at Trabzon airport on Aug. 5, although his first step in the Süper Lig was rather met by boos and heckles—Trabzonspor were the visiting team and Kasımpaşa supporters provided a typically hostile welcome in Istanbul.

The 34-year-old did not start, having not played a minute of preseason due to arriving too late and barely having any time to properly train either. Indeed, Saturday night in Istanbul was Salah’s first match since Egypt’s World Cup elimination at the hand of Argentina on July 7.

But when Salah did appear from the bench with 58 minutes played, a response to Kasımpaşa tying things up at 1–1 through Adrian Benedyczak’s penalty moments earlier, he still managed to impress in the circumstances.

There was to be no debut goal or helping hand in a Trabzonspor winner some other way—1–1 was how the match finished. Yet Salah enjoyed some promising moments that suggest when he’s a little more up to speed he might be productive in helping the club realize its ambitions of upsetting the established concentration of power and dominance in Turkish soccer.

Salah immediately created a chance when he dribbled down the right flank and crossed for striker Paul Onauchu. He made another opportunity later on from a wide free kick that forced Kasımpaşa goalkeeper Andreas Gianniotis to make a save, as well as volleying wide of the target with an effort of his own in the 77th minute.

Salah Impresses Local Media

Mohamed Salah — Salah could have been forgiven for lacking fitness. | Ferda Demir/Getty Images

Salah was able to agree a more lucrative contract with Trabzonspor than he could have negotiated with clubs in a higher profile western European league. But this did not appear to be some overpaid has-been intent on just collecting a paycheck until he retires.

The reviews from media outlets in Türkiye were positive.

Fotospor suggested that Salah was “enthusiastic” and is already “standing out.” Anadolu credited him with creating Trabzonspor’s “best opportunity” of the match.

Ultimately, Trabzonspor hope Salah’s two years with the club—and it may not be longer given he will turn 36 shortly before it expires in 2028—will push them into league-champion territory.

This was Türkiye’s dominant club from the second half of the 1970s into the early 1980s, winning the Süper Lig six times in nine years. But 2021–22 is the only other national league title in the last 42 years. Türkiye’s traditional power base—Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş— looked like it was finally diluting when İstanbul Başakşehir and Trabzonspor each won the league during a run of three seasons between 2019 and 2022. But Galatasaray have won the crown every year since, aiming for a fifth in a row in 2026–27, with Fenerbahçe second each time.

Trabzonspor finished third last season, which equates to competing in the 2026–27 Europa League. They haven’t played in the Champions League beyond the qualifying rounds since 2011–12. Only first place guarantees that, with second spot enough to enter the qualifiers.

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