Carragher Questions Salah's Move to Trabzonspor

Jamie Carragher did not bother to dress it up. For him, Mohamed Salah’s decision to swap Anfield and the Premier League spotlight for Trabzonspor and the Turkish Super Lig is a step down that a player of his stature should never have taken.

Speaking on the Football Ramble, the former Liverpool defender admitted he was stunned that Salah chose to leave Europe’s traditional power leagues behind.

“I never believed he was going to go to Saudi, because number one, he's too good for that,” Carragher said, using that comparison to underline his point. “I think he can be playing in Serie A. Turkey for me feels a level too low.”

That is the crux of his argument: this is not about romance, culture or a fresh challenge on the Black Sea. It is about level. About prestige. About where a player who has spent the last seven years terrorising defences in England and Europe should be plying his trade at 34.

“Too good for that” – Carragher’s Serie A vision

While Trabzonspor celebrate the coup of landing one of the modern era’s most prolific forwards, Carragher’s mind was in Italy, not Turkey. He admitted he fully expected Salah to land at a historic Serie A institution rather than a side that finished third in the Super Lig last season.

“I was convinced he'd end up at an AC Milan or Juventus or somewhere like that, maybe his wages were a problem,” he said.

In Carragher’s eyes, that is where a player with Salah’s numbers and drive belongs: San Siro nights, heavyweight fixtures, Champions League music or at least the top end of the Europa League, all wrapped in the aura of a grand old club.

He drew a direct parallel with Ronaldo’s obsession with statistics and legacy.

“I don't know him, obviously have never spoken to him. But he's like Ronaldo, he's so driven, his numbers mean so much to him. I thought, he can still do this in Turkey by the way, but I thought he'd want to play at a real prestigious club.”

The line is telling. Carragher is not questioning whether Salah can dominate in Turkey. He is questioning why he is there at all.

Prestige vs payday

Underneath the nostalgia for Serie A lies a harsher accusation: that Salah has traded visibility and the unforgiving rhythm of elite competition for a lucrative package in a less demanding environment.

To prise him away, Trabzonspor are reported to have assembled a salary worth around €17 million per year. Serious money, even for a man who recently walked away from a £400,000‑a‑week offer at Liverpool.

Carragher’s view is blunt. The Europa League football that Trabzonspor can offer next season does not, in his mind, compensate for what he sees as a softer domestic schedule.

He believes the daily grind of the Turkish league simply does not match the level of a player who, until recently, was central to a side chasing Premier League titles and Champions League glory.

“Obviously his wage demands have put a few people off but I thought he might almost curb those demands a little bit to almost get a better club,” he continued.

That “better club” is not about disrespecting Trabzonspor’s history or fanbase; it is about the global hierarchy of the game. AC Milan. Juventus. The iconic shirts, the iconic stadiums, the weight of the badge.

“To go to an AC Milan or Juventus or whoever it may be, play at the San Siro, still playing in big games, still playing in Europe. Turkey just feels like... I just think he's better than that.”

For Carragher, the choice is stark: a slightly reduced pay packet at one of Europe’s aristocrats, or a lavish deal in a league he views as second tier. Salah has made his call. Carragher plainly disagrees.

A king in a new kingdom

On the shores of the Black Sea, the mood is very different. Whatever the arguments raging elsewhere, Salah has thrown himself into his new chapter in northern Turkey.

He joins a Trabzonspor project that has already attracted familiar Premier League names, including Manchester United loanee Andre Onana and former Manchester City defender Stefan Savic. It is a dressing room being built with European experience in mind, and Salah will walk into it as the unquestioned star.

The “Egyptian King” leaves Liverpool with a legacy carved into club folklore: Premier League and Champions League titles, a full sweep of major honours, and goal records that place him among the greatest to wear the shirt. That backdrop only sharpens the debate around his next step.

If Carragher is unconvinced, the scenes at Istanbul Atatürk Airport told another story. The reception bordered on the religious. Flares, flags, a sea of phones held aloft. In that frenzy, you could already see how Salah will be treated in his new home: not just as a signing, but as a saviour.

Trabzonspor last lifted the Super Lig title in 2022. Since then, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce have reasserted their muscle. The gap has widened. The club’s hierarchy are gambling that Salah’s goals, aura and sheer star power can drag them back into a title race that has started to slip from their grasp.

Carragher looks at the move and sees a player stepping away from the game’s brightest lights. Trabzonspor look at the same move and see the man who might just drag them back into the sun. Only the season to come will decide which vision defines the final chapters of Salah’s European story.