Salah's 10 goals fuel Trabzonspor title challenge after summer move

Mohamed Salah has contributed 10 goals and five assists in all competitions since joining Trabzonspor, helping the Turkish club pursue the Super Lig title after his departure from Liverpool. In a report from Trabzon, BBC Sport detailed the 34-year-old's early impact on the pitch and the commercial growth that has accompanied his arrival on the Black Sea coast.

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Trabzonspor have won seven of their opening 10 league matches and sit three points behind leaders Galatasaray. Their victories include wins over Galatasaray and Besiktas, two of the Istanbul clubs that have dominated the competition. Trabzonspor have seven league championships, compared with a combined 61 for Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas, making the current pursuit a challenge to that established concentration of titles.

Salah arrived in August and signed a two-year deal running until 2028. Thousands of supporters greeted him in Istanbul before he travelled onwards to Trabzon to complete the move. According to the BBC, the home shirt he wore on arrival sold out almost immediately, followed by the black away shirt he wore later that day after a suggestion from club president Ertugrul Dogan.

That demand has continued beyond the initial welcome. BBC Sport reported that Trabzonspor had exceeded the previous year's merchandise revenue within three months of Salah's arrival, while season-ticket sales also rose sharply. Shops and stalls around the city sell products bearing his image, ranging from scarves and keyrings to Egyptian-inspired headdresses in the club's colours.

The report also described an influx of travelling supporters, with new flights from Cairo, Dubai and Riyadh introduced since the transfer. On the journey to Trabzonspor's Conference League fixture against Freiburg, the BBC met an Egyptian family of 10 travelling from Cairo. The visitors illustrated how Salah's following now extends the club's matchday audience beyond its local supporters.

Within the squad, striker Paul Onuachu told BBC Sport that Salah's presence had benefited his team-mates and described playing alongside him as a privilege. Salah is continuing to set standards in training and in the gym, the report said. His early scoring and creative output have accompanied a strong league start as Trabzonspor chase Galatasaray.