Trabzonspor president says Mohamed Salah is one of the world’s top three players

Ertugrul Dogan, president of Turkish club Trabzonspor, says Mohamed Salah is currently one of the three best players in world football and has received an extraordinary welcome from the city since joining the club.

Speaking to Libero TV, Dogan said: “Mohamed Salah is a global star and, in my opinion, he is one of the three best players in the world at the moment. There is no doubt about that.”

Dogan also revealed that Salah had questioned the move when negotiations first began.

“When we started negotiations with him, his reaction was: ‘Why should I come to Trabzon?’” he said.

The Trabzonspor president said the club had to be prepared to meet the financial demands involved in signing a player of Salah’s stature, while also convincing him that he would be valued by the club and the wider community.

“When you sign a player of Mohamed Salah’s level, you have to be ready to pay the amounts required,” Dogan said. “We convinced him that Trabzon would give him a level of love and appreciation that he had never experienced before.”

“He is now extremely happy. His family is here in Trabzon and he is receiving enormous affection from a city that currently adores him.”

Dogan added that Trabzonspor had a clear strategy for the future and understood how it needed to operate in the transfer market.

“Trabzonspor has a special plan and the club knows exactly what needs to be done and how to handle its transfer business,” he said.

He also pointed to the club’s understanding of the type of football its supporters want to see, as well as the work being carried out by the manager.

“We understand the nature of the football our fans aspire to,” Dogan said. “Everyone can see the style of play implemented by the manager, and we will address any deficiencies he identifies in the squad as quickly as possible.”

Salah recently inspired Trabzonspor to a 2-0 victory over Besiktas, scoring one of the goals in the match.

That goal took the Egyptian clear at the top of the Turkish league’s scoring chart with eight goals.

Salah moved ahead of Fenerbahce’s Vedat Muriqi, Basaksehir’s Eldor Shomurodov and Amed’s Cift Urban, who had each scored seven goals.

He has also become the second Egyptian player to score against Besiktas while wearing a Trabzonspor shirt, following Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet”.