Salah deal sparks ticket surge as Trabzonspor target new era

Trabzonspor have turned Mohamed Salah’s arrival into a wider commercial and sporting project, with season-ticket sales covering about 70% of the Egypt forward’s reported annual salary within the first four or five days after the deal was announced.

Salah, who spent nine outstanding seasons at Liverpool, signed a two-year contract with the Turkish club and was presented in front of about 35,000 supporters at Papara Park. Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan believes the signing represents far more than a major transfer for the Black Sea club.

“He is the biggest Muslim footballer in the world and an influential role model,” Dogan told the BBC. “We held his signing ceremony in front of 35,000 people. It was clear from all his actions that he felt the extent of the love he was receiving. He expressed that to us as well and thanked us.”

Salah’s move caused widespread surprise, with expectations that he could join the Saudi Pro League or move to the United States to play alongside Lionel Messi. Instead, Trabzonspor won the race to sign him despite not competing in the Champions League and having won the Turkish league only once since their golden era in the 1970s and 1980s.

Dogan said the club’s strongest selling point was the special relationship between Trabzonspor and the city it represents.

“I have always said that Trabzonspor and the city of Trabzon represent something exceptional,” he said. “We are the biggest city in the world represented by only one club.”

The club asked Salah why he should choose Trabzonspor at this stage of his career and emphasised the welcome he would receive from local supporters.

“We told him: be confident that you will meet a group of fans unlike any other, and you will feel the genuine love held in the hearts of these people,” Dogan added.

Trabzon lies on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, close to the border with Georgia. It has a population of about 800,000, although it is not among Turkey’s 20 largest urban centres.

Dogan, who was born in Trabzon in January 1977, built his wealth through a number of businesses, including property and hazelnut trading, before moving into the energy sector and biofuel. He became Trabzonspor president in 2023, shortly after one of the club’s strongest campaigns in recent years, when they won the Turkish league title in 2021-22.

Since then, Trabzonspor – known as the “Black Sea Storm” – have finished third, seventh and third in their past three league seasons under Dogan’s leadership.

Last season, the club won the Turkish Cup under manager Fatih Tekke. They are now attempting to qualify for the Europa League, although they suffered a 1-0 home defeat by Hungary’s Ferencvaros in the first leg of their qualifying tie.

A signing with wider ambitions

Dogan does not view Salah’s arrival as an isolated piece of business. Rather, he sees it as part of a strategy to establish Trabzonspor and the city as an attractive destination for young talent and established stars.

“We are working to make Trabzonspor and the city of Trabzon a preferred destination for talented young players from all over the world,” he said.

The club wants to develop those players before giving them opportunities to move to bigger European sides. At the same time, it intends to retain experienced footballers and high-profile players capable of making a decisive difference.

“Salah is a wonderful example of that, whether in terms of his lifestyle, his professionalism, his smile or his positive energy,” Dogan said.

Trabzonspor generated significant profits in the summer transfer window by selling 20-year-old Ivory Coast midfielder Christ Inao Oulai to Fiorentina and 22-year-old Brazilian striker Felipe Augusto to Zenit St Petersburg, with both players leaving after only one season at the club.

They replaced the pair with a group of younger players from Albania, Belgium, Cape Verde and Portugal, while also seeking greater experience in the squad.

Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana returned for a second season on loan from Manchester United, but Salah’s signing remains the club’s most significant move in terms of its impact on supporters and its marketing reach.

“It is not easy to put a direct financial value on the attention and level of engagement that this transfer has generated around the world,” Dogan said.

The president previously revealed that Salah would earn an annual salary of 17m euros and receive 20% of the income from merchandise carrying his name. However, Dogan said the agreement did not produce a direct financial return by itself.

“From a purely financial perspective, the deal does not generate a direct return on its own,” he said.

Even so, the effect was felt quickly. Trabzonspor increased season-ticket prices again after announcing Salah’s arrival, with Dogan telling supporters: “Look, I am bringing you Salah, one of the biggest stars in the world.”

The club initially aimed to sell 25,000 season tickets but now expects to pass 30,000. Major companies have also entered discussions about taking advantage of the enormous interest generated by Salah’s arrival.

“We are currently holding important discussions in Turkey, Europe and the Arab world as well,” Dogan said.

Five days to complete the transfer

The president said negotiations moved quickly once formal contact had been established, although Trabzonspor had been interested in bringing Salah to the club since the World Cup.

“Once we started talking, both sides showed a very genuine desire to reach an agreement,” Dogan said. “In fact, we had been trying to sign him since the World Cup, but initially we knew he was also negotiating with other clubs.”

Trabzonspor had to wait while other Turkish sides held talks with the forward. According to Dogan, the club entered the race after those teams withdrew.

“After those clubs announced that they were pulling out of the deal, we began our negotiations,” he said. “I think it took about five or six days to complete.”

The process began with a meeting on Zoom, initially intended simply to allow the two parties to get to know one another. Salah was on holiday on the Greek island of Mykonos at the time, and discussions later resumed on the same platform.

Once an agreement had been reached, Trabzonspor arranged for Salah to travel to Turkey for his medical examination in Istanbul rather than Trabzon. The choice of venue was deliberate: the club wanted him to see the scale of his welcome in Turkey as a whole, rather than only in the city he would represent.

Thousands of supporters gathered at the airport when he arrived, despite the fact that it was the middle of a normal working day. The scenes underlined the popularity Salah already enjoys in Turkey.

He made his Trabzonspor debut in Istanbul, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1-1 draw with Kasımpasa in the opening round of the Turkish league season.

Salah is expected to make his first appearance at his new home ground in Trabzon soon, with supporters eagerly awaiting the occasion.

Dogan summed up the connection between the city and its club in simple terms: “The whole city lives for football. Wherever you go, and in every corner, the city gives that player tremendous energy and happiness.”

After completing one of the biggest transfers in its history, Trabzonspor hope the broad smile worn by Dogan during Salah’s presentation will become a symbol of a new chapter for the Turkish club.