Terim Praises Salah’s Momentous Move to Trabzonspor

He could have chased the money in Saudi Arabia. He could have gone to the UAE. Instead, Mohamed Salah turned up in Trabzon.

Fatih Terim believes that single decision has just changed the landscape of Turkish football.

On the eve of a fiery showdown at Papara Park, where Trabzonspor host old rivals Galatasaray in the sixth round of the Trendyol Super League, the iconic coach called Salah’s arrival “one of the most important transfers in the history of the Turkish league.”

Trabzonspor sit ninth on 7 points, still searching for stability in front of their own crowd. Galatasaray arrive as league leaders on 13 points, close to flawless and already eyeing a gap at the top. The stage is big. The noise will be bigger. And at the centre of it all stands Salah in claret and blue.

For Terim, even getting him there bordered on fantasy.

“We are talking about a player who has been at the highest level for years with Liverpool, and has won everything. The Europa League, the Champions League, and Club World Cups. He is a player who is indispensable,” he told Turkish outlet 61saat, underlining the scale of the coup.

Any major club on the planet would have taken him. That was Terim’s point. He stressed that teams from the Emirates and Saudi Arabia were ready to throw huge money at the Egyptian star, alongside the heavyweights of Spain, Italy and England. Salah still chose Trabzon.

For Terim, that choice alone counts as a victory.

He reserved special praise for the club hierarchy, singling out president Ertuğrul Doğan and his board for pulling off a deal that looked out of reach.

“President Ertuğrul Doğan and his administration deserve every appreciation and congratulation. Bringing in a player of this world-class value is not an easy matter at all, as he is able to go anywhere he wants. What happened is a momentous thing and deserves praise,” Terim said.

The compliments are backed by cold numbers. Salah has exploded into the Trendyol Super League, already establishing himself as the competition’s standout name: 4 goals and 1 assist in just 5 matches. He hasn’t eased his way in. He has kicked the door down.

Now comes the real test. Top-of-the-table Galatasaray, a charged Papara Park, and a superstar who turned his back on fortune elsewhere to light up a different kind of stage.