Hafid Derradji Critiques Salah’s Trabzonspor Move: What a Shame

Mohamed Salah’s first steps in Turkish football have already sparked a storm of opinion, and the loudest voice so far belongs to Algerian commentator Hafid Derradji.

As Salah pulled on the Trabzonspor shirt for the first time in a 1-1 draw with Kasimpasa, coming off the bench in the 59th minute, Derradji was watching – and he did not like what he saw from a career-planning perspective. Not the performance, but the choice.

On Facebook, he cut straight to the point: “What a shame.”

For Derradji, a player who spent years terrorising defences in the Premier League should still be operating at the very peak of European football, not stepping into what he views as a lesser technical project.

In his view, Salah had other doors open. If the destination had to be Turkey, Derradji argued, then the path should have led to Galatasaray or Fenerbahce – clubs he sees as offering fiercer competition, heavier pressure and a stronger footprint in European competitions. That kind of environment, he believes, would have better matched the forward’s status, built painstakingly across his Liverpool years.

Trabzonspor are no minnows. They carry serious weight in Turkey, both financially and in terms of support. Their fan base is intense, their ambitions genuine. Yet Derradji still feels the move undershoots the level Salah carved out for himself at Anfield, where he rose into the conversation among the game’s global elite.

The criticism, though, is not a dismissal of Salah himself. Derradji was careful to underline that the Egyptian has not “lost his shine.” The talent, the aura, the market value – all of that remains. His argument is narrower, more pointed: with that profile, Salah could have chosen a club that pushed him harder from a technical standpoint at this stage of his career.

The reaction to his transfer underlines that point. Even after leaving Liverpool, every step Salah takes still sends ripples through the game. Fans debate it, pundits dissect it, commentators like Derradji turn it into a wider conversation about ambition, legacy and what “the top level” really means for a player who has already lived there for so long.

For now, the story is just beginning in Trabzon. The question hanging over it is whether this chapter will enhance Salah’s legend – or simply feel like a stage beneath what he has already proved he can command.