Mohamed Salah: How Trabzonspor pulled off deal for ex-Liverpool forward

Located on the Black Sea coast, the city of Trabzon sits near the border with Georgia in the north-east corner of Turkey.

With a population of around 800,000 people, it is not even in the top 20 when it comes to the country’s largest urban centres.

But Dogan claims it has something special.

“I always say this about Trabzonspor and the city – we’re the biggest one-club city in the world.

“Salah asked us something like, ‘Why should I choose Trabzonspor now?’

“We told him about the city and said: ‘You can be sure you will meet a group of supporters unlike any you have experienced before. You’ll feel the genuine love those people have inside them’.”

Born in January 1977, Dogan is himself a son of Trabzon.

The businessman made his money through a series of different ventures, including real estate and hazelnuts, before moving into the energy sector and specialising in biofuels.

He became Trabzonspor president in 2023, shortly after the club’s most successful season in recent memory – having won the league title in 2021-22.

Under Dogan’s watch, the Black Sea Storm, as the club is known, have finished third, seventh and third in the Super Lig.

Last season they won the Turkish Cup under coach Fatih Tekke, who is now looking to guide his team into the Europa League, despite a 1-0 home defeat in the first leg of their play-off tie against Hungary’s Ferencvaros.

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

“We want to take them to the next level, to move on to bigger European clubs. Those young players… [combined with] star players… a star in every way, with their lifestyle, their professionalism, their smile, their positive energy.

“Mohamed Salah is a really great example in this respect.”