Mohamed Salah has reiterated that he joined Trabzonspor to win trophies after the club’s Europa League campaign ended with a 5–0 aggregate defeat.

Trabzonspor travelled to Hungary trailing Ferencváros 1–0 from the first leg before losing the return fixture 4–0. Two red cards contributed to the collapse, although Salah had already been substituted in the 64th minute with his side three goals behind.

The 34-year-old responded the following day with a statement reaffirming his commitment to the Turkish club.

“Nothing in my career ever came easy,” Salah wrote, before insisting that defeats could be turned into motivation and trophies.

He added that Trabzonspor remained his club and concluded: “‘I came here to win’ is not just a slogan to me.”

Salah’s commitment has therefore survived Trabzonspor’s Europa League campaign, which has not.

The former Liverpool forward arrived in Turkey earlier this month on a free transfer and immediately became the most prominent figure in a project carrying considerably greater expectations than before. He scored twice against İstanbul Başakşehir five days before the defeat in Budapest, briefly suggesting those expectations were proceeding according to schedule.

Ferencváros subsequently removed Trabzonspor from the Europa League without conceding a goal across either match.

The result also prompted head coach Fatih Tekke to announce his resignation during a live television interview. Tekke admitted that he had not informed the club before making the announcement, allowing Trabzonspor to respond by refusing to accept it and confirming that he remained their manager.

Trabzonspor will now enter the Conference League, meaning Salah still has an opportunity to deliver the trophies mentioned in his statement. The available European trophy has simply been replaced by a smaller one.

Salah came to Turkey to win. After August, the competition in which he plans to do it has been revised.