Man Utd Star Played ‘Significant’ Role in Mohamed Salah’s Trabzonspor Transfer

Trabzonspor fans might have on-loan goalkeeper André Onana to thank for Mohamed Salah becoming arguably the biggest signing in the club’s 59-year history.

Despite interest in previous years from the Saudi Pro League and links with Major League Soccer team Sporting Kansas City in recent weeks, Salah seemed destined for Türkiye. Beşiktaş struggled to finalize the financial terms with the former Liverpool superstar, but he will still play in the Süper Lig now that Trabzonspor agreed a two-year contract.

Salah, as he does for Egypt, will wear the No. 10 shirt.

Seeing his place taken at Manchester United, first briefly by Altay Bayındır and then permanently by Senne Lammens, Onana spent last season with Trabzonspor and extended that loan into a second year soon after 2025–26 had finished.

The Daily Mail writes that Onana personally contacted Salah and in what are described as “secret talks” gave the 34-year-old free agent a “compelling” sales pitch. Those talks have been reported as “significant” in Salah’s final decision to join.

Onana wasn’t the only one as Egypt national team colleague Trézéguet, who was contracted to Trabzonspor from 2022–2025, also made his own “pitch” to Salah.

Why Did Mohamed Salah Sign for Trabzonspor?

André Onana successfully sold the idea. | Hasan Tascan/Anadolu/Getty Images

Reports estimate Salah will be paid $39 million for his two seasons in Türkiye, assuming he completes the two-year contract—which wasn’t the case at Liverpool.

It isn’t as much as the $28 million he was contracted to get per season at Anfield after the new deal signed in April 2025, but—according to the Mail report—still outweighed anything on offer from clubs in western Europe’s top leagues.

However, aside from the financial motivation to sign with Trabzonspor, there is a sporing project that is thought to have carried weight in Salah’s acceptance.

Trabzonspor lays claims to being Türkiye’s fourth biggest club, behind the Istanbul three—Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş—that have accounted for 61 of 70 Turkish championships since the Süper Lig was first played in 1959.

Trabzonspor is next on the list with seven national titles, with only two other clubs ever crowned champions of Türkiye—Bursapor (2009–10), İstanbul Başakşehir (2019–20).

Permanently breaking up the established order is a very real target. Trabzonspor’s last Süper Lig title was in 2021–22, but that was a first in almost four decades.

Last season, Trabzonspor finished third, nine points ahead of fourth-place Beşiktaş, and only eight behind champions Galatasaray. That was good enough for entry into this season’s Europa League at the playoff round stage.

Where Trabzonspor fell short of both Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe last was scoring goals, 16 behind the 77 each Istanbul giant put up in the league. Salah is a dual threat goalscorer and creator and so is an obvious choice to help bridge that gap.

Only the top two in the Süper Lig qualify for the Champions League, so the minimum objective for a team that contains Salah and Onana, legitimately among the best goalkeepers in the world as recently as 2023, is to reach that competition for the second year of Salah’s contract. If he helps deliver Türkiye’s championship, he could end up becoming as big a legend for Trabzonspor in two years as he is at Liverpool for what he did in nine.

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