Mohamed Salah’s Transfer Twist: Trabzonspor Ambushes Besiktas

For weeks, it looked like a done deal. Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool icon whose goals lit up Anfield for seven years, was supposed to be on his way to Istanbul and a fresh start with Besiktas.

Now that script has been ripped up.

On Saturday morning, reports from France and Turkey aligned on one story: Trabzonspor have stormed in late and are on the brink of hijacking Besiktas’ move for the 32-year-old forward.

Liverpool era ends, Turkey beckons

Liverpool and Salah agreed to part company this summer, a mutual decision despite the Egyptian still having a year left on a contract that paid him around £400,000 per week.

For most of his time on Merseyside, those wages felt like a bargain. Salah was a phenomenon, a winger in name only who delivered centre-forward numbers. Goals, assists, decisive moments in title races and Champions League nights – he justified every penny.

Last season, that aura faded. The output dropped sharply. When the goals dried up, the rest of his game came under harsher scrutiny. His lack of defensive work, long tolerated because of his brilliance in the final third, suddenly looked like a problem. Liverpool chose a reset over sentiment and moved in a different direction.

The parting opened the door to a scramble for one of the modern era’s most prolific wide forwards. Saudi Arabia circled. MLS showed interest. Yet Besiktas moved with intent and, for a while, looked to have their man.

Besiktas pushed aside

Besiktas did what others hadn’t: they put a concrete offer on the table and edged ahead. A 1+1-year deal, worth €10m net per season plus €2m in bonuses, was verbally agreed with Salah’s camp, according to reporting from Santi Aouna.

It felt like a coup. A fading Liverpool legend perhaps, but still a global star, still a player whose name alone could transform a club’s profile and commercial reach.

Then Trabzonspor arrived.

Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu, a well-regarded voice on domestic transfers, reported that Trabzonspor had met Salah’s representative and gone straight in with an official proposal: a two-year contract with a salary of €17m per year.

Roughly £280,000 a week. Less than his Liverpool wage, but a statement figure in the Turkish game.

Sabuncuoğlu added that Salah’s representative relayed the details to the player, and the reaction from the former Liverpool forward was clear enough: he is “positively inclined” towards the Trabzonspor offer. The final call will come after discussions with his family.

The pressure finally told. Besiktas, having thought they were closing in, have now suspended negotiations “until further notice” after Trabzonspor’s intervention, despite that prior verbal agreement.

Trabzonspor close in

Aouna backed up the Turkish reports, stating that Trabzonspor are “close to hijacking” the deal and are in advanced talks with Salah’s agent, working towards full agreement.

The contrast between the two proposals is stark. Besiktas had the structure – a shorter initial term with an option and performance-related bonuses. Trabzonspor have gone straight for guaranteed money and a longer commitment, a package that reflects the scale of their ambition.

For Salah, this is the late-career crossroads. He walks away from the Premier League on the back of a disappointing season, but with a legacy in England already secured. What comes next is about more than salary. It is about status, role, and the chance to be the centrepiece again rather than a fading star in a league he once dominated.

Turkey offers him that stage. The question now is not whether he will go, but which shade of claret and blue – the Besiktas dream that has stalled, or the Trabzonspor project that has suddenly roared to life.