Mohamed Salah and a potted history of Liverpool legends visiting Trabzon
In today’s Football Daily: Egyptian touches down in Turkey, plus Sean Paul and a dancing Dane
MO MONEY
This October will mark the 50th anniversary of the first time Liverpool and Trabzonspor were thrown together by the gods of football. When they played each other in the second round of the European Cup in 1976 it’s fair to say not many associated with Liverpool were impressed with Trabzon. Bob Paisley described the team hotel as a “doss house”, the ball as “a pig’s bladder” that “was not good enough for blow football”, adding that “teams in the Durham Mining League would not play with it”, and as for the food, well, he’d had “better rations in my bivvy in the Western Desert”, back when he was in Montgomery’s Eighth Army.
Before their first ever trip to Turkey the club had been particularly worried about their hotel, which is why they sent someone out to inspect it. They thought it was acceptable, but as soon as they left town that booking was cancelled and they were moved into another one half a mile away that nobody had looked at. David Fairclough recalled that “the hotel turned out to be right next to a prayer tower” that used “a very basic public address system that wailed out across the town” to broadcast the call to prayer, which was one of the few things not impacted by “continuous electricity failures”. Ray Clemence came to regard it as “the worst European trip” he ever went on. “The pitch had rocks all over it,” he said. “The hotel was awful. We were woken by the noise of farm animals at 5am.” Liverpool lost 1-0 (then turned it around at Anfield and beat Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final the following May).
Trabzon has clearly gone up in the world since then, as evidenced by the fact Lonely Planet now describes the place as “the most sophisticated city in the region”, albeit warning that it is “somewhat louche”. And also by the fact that, in the latest outbreak of Liverpool-Trabzonspor connectivity, Mohamed Salah – a player born not far from Paisley’s Western Desert, as it happens – has agreed to spend the next two years of his life there.
It’s fair to say Trabzon has grown a little more welcoming over the last five decades, though there was no surprise that fans flocked in huge numbers to greet the Egyptian superstar on arrival – this is, after all, a group of supporters that mobbed the airport the day Paul ‘Tall Paul’ Onuachu turned up to sign on loan from Southampton. Ertugrul Dogan, the president of Trabzonspor, gave a statement to the media confirming the transfer. “There’s nothing to say about Mohamed Salah,” he began, rather worryingly. He then proceeded, with crashing inevitability, to find plenty of things to say about Mohamed Salah. “He’s a global superstar,” Dogan roared. “We needed a player like him. Trabzonspor’s recent success is the talk of Türkiye and of Europe. We are trying to send a message to everyone that Trabzonspor can bring whoever it wants to Trabzon.”
Tales of the club’s recent success, including finishing a gloriously distant third, behind Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, in last season’s Super Lig (though they did win the Turkish Cup), might indeed have attracted this particular person they wanted to Trabzon. The promise of €17m a year as well as some kind of deal on image rights and a percentage of kit sales may also have played a part.
The region’s biggest newspaper, Karadeniz Gazetesi, sent a reporter to gauge the mood on the streets. “We couldn’t sleep because of the excitement,” one fan frothed. “I know there are millions of fans like me around the world. He is a footballer and a global brand. I believe he can add much more to Trabzon’s brand value.” It’s certainly a beautiful sentiment, bringing a tear to Football Daily’s eye.
Early indications are however that this deal might work out very well indeed, for Salah at least. As another fan said: “This is a huge transfer. The whole world will be talking about us. I immediately went and bought a jersey.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I could write 10,000 words on the problems at Fifa. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go. I have loved football all my life. I was a professional player for 20 years. And believe me, I have met some rogues in my time in the game. But what I have seen exposed in the last 10 days is the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed. The man who would do that – the man who would try to force through such major changes just to enrich himself and his friends – is a relic of the game’s past and should have no part in its future. Infantino has debased the office of Fifa president that he promised to elevate. He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve. He has lost the support of his senior staff, his closest advisers, the vast majority of people who devote their lives to this sport and even, it would seem, the Fifa Peace Prize winner. It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football. He should go. Now” – Tell us what you really think, Luís Figo.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“Arsène Wenger, in putting “clear daylight” between himself and Infantino, breaking out a riff on his classic “I didn’t see it”. Nostalgia, it’s a hell of a drug” – Derek McGee, and 1,056 others.
“I don’t know why Infantino didn’t call his failed plan Fifa Forward Scheme FFS” – Gill Newman [David Squires did – Football Daily Ed].
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day goes to … Derek McGee. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
The Jordan FA president, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, has accused Gianni Infantino’s administration of “blackmail”, claiming Fifa threatened to withhold financial assistance for the federation if it refused to back the president’s re-election bid.
Manchester United’s women have confirmed the appointment of Eva Olid as their new head coach. The 40-year-old Spaniard steered Hearts to the Scottish league title last season before leaving in the summer. “I am joining Manchester United at a really exciting time,” she cheered. “There is a clear alignment in our shared vision for long-term success. I cannot wait to begin preparing a team that will make our incredible supporters proud.”
Transfer news! Arsenal have agreed a £75m fee for Newcastle skipper Bruno Guimarães, who is about to fly to London to complete the move.
Just like Sean Paul, Frank Lampard’s Coventry are suddenly getting busy, specifically in the transfer market, with the newly promoted club sealing a £23m deal for the Ghana and Nordsjælland midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi. The deal is set to be a record fee for a player from the Danish league. Elsewhere, Crystal Palace are close to snaffling up the USA USA USA youth international Zavier Gozo.
Big bucks are being spent in the women’s game too. Barcelona have swooped for Manchester City’s Brazilian star Kerolin, paying £1.25m, which is the largest sale by a WSL side.
Vinícius Júnior has given zero indication that he is about to swap Real Madrid for Arsenal this summer, insisting that he’s settling into life under José Mourinho in the Spanish capital. “Mourinho wants me to be as I have always been: happy, cheerful and playing my football,” he bellowed.
And the USA USA USA will kick off the post-GWC grind with friendly games against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada in cities that didn’t host World Cup fixtures this summer, the first games since Mauricio Pochettino inked a contract extension.
MOVING THE GOALPOSTS
How are Washington Spirit thriving in the NWSL? Megan Swanick has the answers in the latest edition of our women’s football newsletter (spoiler alert: continuity, chaos and Trinity Rodman). Oh, and you can sign up to Moving the Goalposts right here.
STILL WANT MORE?
How fares Gianni Infantino’s relationship with football’s confederations? Our writers across the continents look at who might and might not move against the Fifa president.
“Mikel [Arteta] was the first player who showed me that I was important to him, that I mattered. He demonstrates real care, if not through a hug.” Héctor Bellerin gets his chat on with Sid Lowe about his regard for the Arsenal boss, leaving the Emirates, embracing life in Seville with Betis and the “greed” that mars the game.
Jamshedpur FC’s withdrawal from the Indian Super League has thrown football in the country into chaos once more, reports John Duerden.
Which footballer has made the greatest leap in competitive level from one game to the next? What footballers have bought or donated rare books or artefacts? The Knowledge knows.
Jeff Rueter flags up five priorities for the MLS’s new commissioner.
MEMORY LANE
Happy birthday, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, 31 today! The former Southampton and Tottenham midfielder, now at Marseille, first came to prominence when he signed for Bayern Munich as a 16-year-old wonderkid from Brøndby back in 2012. Here he is a couple of years later in May 2014, at the club’s official ‘Champions Party’ in Munich following Bayern latest title triumph, strutting his stuff in front of head coach Pep Guardiola. Shortly afterwards, the Dane was sent out on loan to Augsburg, although we’re not sure if that was because of these moves.