The Egypt international is two matches into his Trabzonspor tenure after bringing his Anfield chapter to a close.
The former Liverpool favourite encountered a baptism of fire from Turkish journalists and supporters during his first home appearance for his new employers. The 32-year-old had previously made his bow for the club from the substitutes’ bench in a 1-1 league stalemate at Kasimpasa.
On Thursday evening, amid great anticipation, he was named in the eleven for the Europa League play-off first leg encounter with Ferencvaros. Despite the fervent backing at Akyazi Stadium, the evening proved disappointing as the Hungarian side departed with a narrow 1-0 advantage.
The hosts’ task was made considerably harder when defender Chibuike Nwaiwu received his marching orders early in the second half. Despite being in the infancy of his stint in Turkey, Salah, who put pen to paper on a two-year contract, was not spared from scrutiny.
The Sozcu website encapsulated the general feeling, reporting that some supporters believed Salah was a shadow of his former self and that the transfer represented a misstep, while others contended he would rediscover his best form in the matches ahead.
The same publication described Salah’s opening to the campaign as underwhelming and suggested he had not lived up to hopes in his initial outing at the Akyazi venue.
Nevertheless, observers noted that Salah had linked up with the squad later than his colleagues and could not reasonably be expected to have developed an immediate understanding with his new teammates. Canli Yayin adopted a comparable stance, stating that the forward had already split opinion after merely two appearances and had thus far not produced the required performances.
The Fanatik website offered slightly kinder assessment, crediting Ferencvaros for strangling the Egyptian’s influence throughout the contest.
It continued that despite Salah’s efforts to carve out opportunities through sheer determination, his contribution proved insufficient. A colleague on the same platform observed that the player had demonstrated commendable commitment throughout the contest.
The KingFut website broke down Salah’s contribution statistically, revealing he had six attempts on goal accumulating an expected goals figure of 0.41. He also laid on four opportunities for teammates and found his target with 31 of 38 passes. Just three of his 11 deliveries into the box reached a colleague, while he completed one of three dribbling attempts and surrendered possession on four occasions.
Salah will look to make a more significant impact when Trabzonspor entertain Istanbul Basakaehir on Sunday. The return fixture in Budapest is scheduled for Thursday, August 27.