Hafid Derradji Critiques Mohamed Salah's Move to Trabzonspor

Hafid Derradji has taken direct aim at Mohamed Salah’s decision to join Trabzonspor, arguing the Egyptian forward has stepped away from the level his talent still deserves.

The Algerian commentator, one of the most recognisable voices in Arab football, reacted sharply after Salah’s debut for the Turkish club, a 1-1 draw with Kasimpasa in Trabzonspor’s opening league game of the season. Salah came off the bench in the 59th minute, pulling on his new colours for the first time and instantly reigniting the debate around his next chapter.

Derradji’s verdict was blunt. On Facebook, he called the move “a shame”, insisting Salah had more to give at the very top of the European game. In his view, the former Liverpool talisman could have extended his stay among the elite for several more years and chosen a destination that better matched his technical ceiling.

The criticism was not aimed at Turkey as a whole, nor at Salah’s ability. It was about the choice of club. Derradji argued that if Salah was determined to head to the Süper Lig, a switch to Galatasaray or Fenerbahce would have made far more sense: heavier pressure, fiercer domestic competition, and a stronger, more visible platform in European competitions.

Trabzonspor are no minnows. They command serious support, possess financial muscle and carry weight inside Turkey. That, for Derradji, still isn’t enough to align with what Salah built at Liverpool, where he rose into the bracket of global superstars and shaped an era under Jurgen Klopp.

From Derradji’s perspective, the gap is technical and symbolic. A player who terrorised defences in the Premier League and the Champions League, who regularly decided matches on the biggest stages, should be testing himself in environments that mirror that intensity. The move to Trabzonspor, he feels, doesn’t quite do that.

Yet his criticism stopped short of questioning Salah’s level. Derradji underlined that the Egyptian “hasn’t lost his shine” and remains a player of enormous value. The point, he stressed, lies in the path chosen, not the quality of the man walking it.

That is why every step Salah now takes attracts such scrutiny. After his dramatic, trophy-laden spell at Liverpool, any new destination becomes a referendum on ambition, legacy and what remains of his prime. Trabzonspor’s opening draw with Kasimpasa was just the first glimpse of this new chapter.

The real question hangs over what comes next: will this move prove a gentle winding down, or the start of a different kind of statement from one of the modern game’s defining forwards?