Salah Has 10 Goals and a Turkish Street Named After Him

• Mohamed Salah has 10 goals and five assists in all competitions for Trabzonspor, per BBC Sport.
• A street in the town of Yomra, where he lives, now carries his name, and a rock in the Trabzon highlands has been renamed Salahtasi.
• Trabzonspor trail Galatasaray by three points in the Super Lig after winning seven of their first 10 games.

A Black Sea City Has Rebuilt Itself Around One Forward

Mohamed Salah left Liverpool for Trabzonspor in a move few saw coming. Three months on, the 34-year-old has a street named after him and 10 goals and five assists in all competitions. In August he flew into Istanbul from a holiday in Mykonos wearing the club’s burgundy and blue home kit, and thousands of fans were waiting. That shirt sold out almost instantly.

Later that day, on the way to Trabzon to complete the formalities, Salah asked one of his entourage what he should wear. “The same kit,” came the response. Club president Ertugrul Dogan advised the black away kit instead. It sold out too.

Fishmongers, Flights and a Famous Rock

Trabzon is a historic port city in north-east Turkey, home to about 800,000 people and only the 30th biggest in the country. On matchday, Salah’s face is on everything. Even the walls inside the fishmongers carry his face. At the club shop in town, one of the staff jokes that the ground floor is for the Egyptian and the upper floor is for everything else. Outside the stadium, there are scarves, magnets, keyrings, lighters with his face on and Egyptian Nemes headdresses in Trabzonspor colours.

“I went to the airport to see him in Istanbul and it was surreal,” says Nisa Dumangoz. “I still can’t believe that he is one of us.”

“Walking around Trabzon, it feels as though nine out of every 10 fans wearing a shirt have Salah’s name on the back. The 10th has their own,” says Turkish football journalist Hasan Tuncel.

The numbers match the noise. Season ticket sales rocketed after his arrival, and the club have already passed last year’s merchandise revenue in three months. New flights now run to Trabzon from Cairo, Dubai and Riyadh. An Egyptian family of 10 flew in from Cairo for the Conference League game against Freiburg. “He is our ambassador and our Egyptian King, and with how many people want to come to Turkey now, he is their ambassador too,” says Mahmoud.

Salah has 68 million Instagram followers. Trabzonspor have three million. When he recently hiked in the highlands and posed for a photo on a rock, the rock was renamed Salahtasi (Salah’s Rock) and became a tourist destination. “In Turkey, he is the biggest football star after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo,” says Kerim Tonyali, who is part of Gurbetci Gencler, a Trabzonspor supporters’ group.

The Football Behind the Fuss

The adulation comes with results. Trabzonspor trail leaders Galatasaray by three points, having won seven of their first 10 games, including victories against the table-toppers and Besiktas. Salah is driving that title push. Watching him in a Conference League game against Freiburg, his pace has gone down a notch compared with his peak. The touch, quick feet and sheer quality are still there, and so is his knack for finding goalscoring positions. His defensive duties, once a source of debate at Liverpool, are limited.

His teammates have noticed. “Everyone wants to work with a star like Mohamed Salah,” said Trabzonspor’s Paul Onuachu, formerly of Southampton. “He adds so much and helps all of us and he contributes positively. I am grateful for him. It’s a blessing to play with him.”

“I remember looking at him when we landed in Trabzon and seeing the crowds outside and how emotional it was,” says Anil Dincer, one of the lawyers involved in Salah’s move to Turkey.

Supporters have already moved on to the next target. “We already have Salah and Fabinho. So now we are waiting for [Virgil] Van Dijk,” adds Serhat Sumer, a Trabzonspor fan. The Liverpool captain has said nobody can replicate Salah as a winger.

Why Trabzon, and What Comes Next

Salah earns about £14.6m a year plus 20% of official merchandise sold with his name on. Money was not the only factor. Besiktas was considered as an option after the 2026 World Cup, but after multiple calls with Trabzonspor, Salah felt they were the ideal fit and offered a life away from Istanbul. He wanted to focus entirely on his football.

He lives in Yomra with his own security detail and a private chef. He likes Turkish coffee and is often seen leaving the ground with Ayran, a traditional yogurt drink. The local mantra suits the mood. “Everywhere is Trabzon for us,” is how people in the city put it.

The Istanbul big three of Galatasaray (26), Fenerbahce (19) and Besiktas (16) have won the league 61 times between them. Trabzonspor have won it seven times.

The Liverpool chapter is closed. The wheels of his departure turned after the Elland Road mixed-zone interview less than a year ago, and he agreed to terminate his contract a year early. Salah, Arne Slot and Richard Hughes are all gone from the club. Asked if he had a message for Liverpool fans, Salah simply said “hello” and smiled.

Ahead of him, Salah has set two targets, the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, which will be partly held in North Africa. His two-year deal runs to 2028 and no decision has been made on how long he stays.