While Mohamed Salah was signing a two-year contract in front of tens of thousands of fans inside Trabzonspor's Babara Park stadium, the man signing the contract next to the Egyptian player was finding it difficult to hide the smile from his face.
The reaction of the fans over the previous few days had already convinced the club's president, Ertugrul Dogan, that he had succeeded in concluding a solid transfer deal.
"He is the biggest Muslim footballer in the world. He is an influential role model," Dogan told BBC Sport Africa and BBC Turkish.
He added: "We held a signing ceremony for Salah in front of 35,000 people."
He continued: "It was clear through everything he did that he felt that love, and he told us that as well. He thanked us."
So how did Dogan convince one of football's biggest stars to join a club that does not participate in the Champions League, and has only won the Turkish League once since its peak success in the 1970s and early 1980s?
“Why should I choose Trabzonspor?”
The city of Trabzon is located on the Black Sea coast, near the border with Georgia in the northeastern corner of Türkiye.
Its population is about 800,000 people, and it is not among the 20 largest urban centers in the country.
But Dugan says she has something special.
He adds: "I always say this about Trabzonspor and the city: We are the largest city in the world that supports one club."
He continued: “We asked Salah something like: Why should I choose Trabzonspor now? We told him about the city and told him: You can be confident that you will meet a group of fans that is different from any experience you have ever had before. You will feel the true love that these people have in their hearts.”
Dogan was born in January 1977, and is a son of the city of Trabzon.
The businessman made his fortune through a series of different ventures, including real estate and hazelnut trading, before moving into the energy sector, specializing in biofuels.
He became president of Trabzonspor in 2023, shortly after the club's most successful season in recent years, when it won the league title in the 2021-2022 season.
During his presidency, “Black Sea Storm” - the nickname by which Trabzonspor is known - finished its seasons in third, then seventh, and later third place in the Turkish Super League.
Last season, the team won the Turkish Cup under the leadership of coach Fatih Tekke, who is currently seeking to lead his team to the European League, despite losing 1-0 at home to Hungarian club Ferencvaros in the first leg of the playoff.
“We are working to make Trabzonspor and the city of Trabzon itself a destination for talented young players from all over the world,” Dogan said.
He added: "We want to take them to the next level, and for them to move to bigger European clubs. These young players... [plus] the star players... are stars in every sense of the word, with their lifestyle, their professionalism, their smile, and their positive energy."
He continued: “Mohamed Salah is a very wonderful example in this matter.”
“Attention” that is not valued financially
During the break between the two seasons, Trabzonspor sold Ivorian midfielder Christ Enao Olay (20 years old) to the Italian club Fiorentina, and Brazilian striker Felipe Augusto (22 years old) to Russian Zenit St. Petersburg. Both deals made huge profits after just one season each with the club.
Young players from Albania, Belgium, Cape Verde and Portugal have joined to compensate for their departure, but Dogan wants to continue achieving a balance between these talents and names with great experience.
Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana returned for a second season on loan from Manchester United, but Salah’s deal could change the rules of the game.
Dogan explained, saying, “The amount of interest this deal generated and the level of interaction it created around the world are difficult to estimate financially.”
He publicly acknowledged that Salah would receive 17 million euros annually ($19.9 million), and 20 percent of the revenues from any products bearing his name.
He said: “From a purely financial perspective, there is no direct return on this deal.”
He added: "We raised the price of season tickets this year. We had to raise it again. I told our fans: Look, I'm bringing you Salah, one of the biggest stars in the world."
Dogan said that about 70 percent of Salah’s salary this year was covered by season ticket sales during the first four or five days after his joining was announced.
The initial goal was to sell 25,000 season tickets, but the club now expects to exceed 30,000 tickets, while major companies have contacted the club president with a desire to benefit from Salah’s presence.
Dogan continued by saying: “We are holding important talks in Turkey, Europe, and the Arab world as well.”
"The whole city lives for football"
The news of Trabzonspor winning the race to sign Salah after nine exceptional seasons with Liverpool raised some people's surprise.
Many expected that the player, who ranks fourth on the list of all-time scorers in the English Premier League, would sign a huge contract with one of the Saudi Professional League clubs similar to Cristiano Ronaldo, or that he would join Lionel Messi in the United States.
But Dogan said that despite the presence of competition, the deal was completed quickly after negotiations actually began.
He added: "Once we started the talks, the two sides treated each other with great sincerity."
He continued: “In fact, we had been seeking to sign him since the World Cup, but we knew from the beginning that he was talking to other clubs as well.”
This meant that Trabzonspor initially had to wait, as Dogan says there is an unwritten rule in Turkey that if one club is in talks with a player, the other clubs must wait.
“Yes, there were clubs in Türkiye interested in him,” he confirmed.
He added: "After they announced their withdrawal from this deal, we began negotiations. I think it took about five or six days to complete it."
He continued: "We held the first meeting via the Zoom application. At that stage, the goal was only to get to know the two parties. Salah was on vacation - in Mykonos - and later the talks resumed again via Zoom."
It is expected that he will play his first match in the league at home in the city of Trabzon on Sunday.
“The whole city lives for football,” Dugan said.
He added: "Wherever you go, on every corner, the city gives that player energy and happiness."
