Mohamed Salah has become the fastest player in Turkish Super Lig history to reach 10 goal contributions, needing only seven matches for Trabzonspor. The Egypt captain set up Francolino in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Samsunspor, taking his tally to seven goals and three assists since his summer move from Liverpool.
The assist was his third of the campaign and moved him level at the top of the league’s assists chart. Salah also shares first place in the scoring list with Gift Orban of Umit Sortif. Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen, Fenerbahce’s Vedat Muriqi and Istanbul Basaksehir’s Eldor Shomurodov are one behind on six goals each. Trabzonspor unveiled the forward in early August after his move from Liverpool, and his seven goals in seven league games put him level with the division’s leading scorers within two months of his arrival in Turkey.
Trabzonspor are fifth in the table, three points behind leaders Galatasaray, whom they beat 4-0 before the international break. The league resumed on October 10, and the win over Samsunspor kept Salah’s side in touch with the leading group. The 4-0 victory over Galatasaray before the break showed that Trabzonspor can compete with the Istanbul clubs, and Salah’s output has been central to their start.
The record follows a difficult international window for the forward. Salah reportedly fell out with Egypt coach Hossam Hassan after he was substituted on 60 minutes against Angola, a decision Hassan explained as being for “technical reasons”. Salah was also said to have taken exception to comments Hassan made about injured goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy. He then left the Egypt camp before the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Sudan.
The Egyptian Football Association said it had been agreed before the Angola game that Salah would sit out the match in Juba, which was played on an artificial pitch.
He had been due to rejoin the squad for a friendly against South Africa in Cairo on October 4, but he did not return, and Egypt lost that game 1-0. Several outlets reported that he travelled to England before heading back to Turkey to train with Trabzonspor ahead of the league restart. His assist against Samsunspor came in Trabzonspor’s first league game after that period, and it confirmed his place in the record books less than three months into his time at the club. The Egyptian forward now heads into the next round of fixtures level at the top of both the scoring and assists charts.
