Mohamed Salah Leaves Liverpool for Trabzonspor
Mohamed Salah has cut short one of the great modern Liverpool careers, agreeing to terminate his contract a year early and join Turkish side Trabzonspor on a free transfer.
After nine years, seven major trophies and 257 goals in 442 appearances, the curtain has come down at Anfield in a way few would have predicted when he was terrorising defences at his peak. The split is mutual, but it follows a bruising final season for the 34-year-old, one that saw him dropped and involved in a very public fallout with then head coach Arne Slot.
From icon to exit, the ending has been anything but gentle.
A Giant Leaves Anfield
Salah leaves as one of Liverpool’s greatest players, a forward who rewrote records and dragged Jürgen Klopp’s side through some of the club’s most exhilarating years. Only two players in Liverpool history have scored more for the club. His 257 goals came wrapped in league titles, European glory and a global profile that made him the face of the modern Liverpool.
That’s what makes this departure so stark. This is not a farewell lap at Anfield, not a slow fade into the background. It is a clean break, one year before his deal was due to expire in April 2025.
The tension had been building. A difficult campaign, the loss of his undisputed starter status, and that flashpoint with Slot – all of it chipped away at what had long felt unshakeable. When Salah was dropped at Leeds last season and followed it with a bombshell interview, the sense grew that the relationship had reached a point of no return.
Saudi Riches Rejected, Turkey Beckons
For years, Saudi Arabia seemed his inevitable next step. Clubs there have circled repeatedly, and Liverpool once stood firm in the face of staggering money. Less than three years ago, the club rejected a £150m offer from Al Ittihad for Salah, a figure that underlined just how central he remained to their plans.
This time, the script has flipped. Instead of the Saudi Pro League, Salah is heading to the Turkish Superlig, with Trabzonspor securing a marquee signing without paying a fee. The club finished third last season and will enter the Europa League playoffs, a stage that still offers European nights, if not at the level Salah has grown used to.
The financial pull remains strong, even if it does not match what Saudi Arabia could have put on the table. Speaking on Sky Sports News’ Transfer Show, former Premier League defender John Curtis pointed to the obvious factor.
“The obvious one is the money. I'm sure. I think it's rumoured to be 17m a year or something like that,” he said, noting it is “a little bit less maybe than he was earning at Liverpool, and probably significantly less than he could have got at or in Saudi Arabia.”
So this is not the absolute top-dollar move many expected. It is something different: a lucrative contract, yes, but also a fresh stage and a new kind of challenge.
Step Down or New Stage?
Curtis did not hide the reality of the footballing step Salah is taking.
“It's very easy to play with top players. So, is this a step down? Obviously, those players are very good players, but most Salah is used to working with the very best, and that impacts you as a player. So, again, it becomes a little bit of a shock.”
Salah has spent the last decade surrounded by elite teammates, operating at the sharp end of the Premier League and Champions League. At Trabzonspor, the environment changes. The spotlight will still follow him, but the cast around him will not be of the same calibre he enjoyed at Liverpool.
That difference can jar for players who have lived at the summit. It can also liberate them. In Turkey, Salah will be the undisputed star, the focal point of a side chasing domestic success and European relevance.
A New Chapter, Far From Anfield
For Liverpool, the Salah era is now officially over. The club has lost not just a goalscorer but a symbol – a player whose numbers, trophies and moments will anchor any future telling of this era.
For Salah, the choice is clear: a new league, a different rhythm, and a chance to redefine the final years of his career away from the glare of the Premier League and the money-soaked pull of Saudi Arabia.
He leaves Anfield as a legend. What he becomes in Trabzon will write the next, very different, chapter of a remarkable career.
