Two of European football's more intriguing late-summer sagas took a step forward on Saturday, with ONE reporting that Trabzonspor have tabled a stunning offer for Mohamed Salah, even as Real Madrid's teenage midfielder Thiago Pitarch edges closer to joining Fulham.
According to the report, Trabzonspor moved for Salah once talks over an alternative Süper Lig destination, Beşiktaş, stalled. The Turkish side are said to have proposed a two-year contract worth around €17 million a season, with the Egyptian forward's camp reportedly reacting positively to the terms.
ONE's report adds that Salah is expected to consult his family before making any decision on his next move, with his current Liverpool deal edging toward its end and a switch away from Anfield increasingly framed in Turkish media as a live possibility.
The picture is far from settled, however. Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul Doğan has publicly and repeatedly rejected the idea that a deal is close, telling Turkish outlets in the past two days that Salah 'is not on our agenda' and that 'there is no agreement' with the player, despite the swirl of reports linking the two parties.
That contradiction — a reported offer and a positive player reaction on one side, a flat denial from the club's own president on the other — means the story remains very much a developing one rather than a done deal, and should be read with that caveat.
In a separate transfer thread, Fulham are reported to be closing in on a deal for Pitarch, the 18-year-old Real Madrid midfielder who made his first-team debut for the Spanish giants in February under then-coach Álvaro Arbeloa.
Arbeloa left Real Madrid this summer and was appointed Fulham's head coach in July, and the Craven Cottage club has already leaned heavily on that connection: Fulham agreed a reported €50 million package with Real Madrid in recent weeks to sign attacking pair Gonzalo García and César Palacios, both graduates of the same Real Madrid Castilla group Arbeloa oversaw.
Pitarch would be the third of that group to follow Arbeloa to west London. Reports in the Spanish press describe him as keen on the reunion, though he is currently carrying a knock, and Real Madrid are said to be weighing whether a move abroad would benefit his development — with the possibility of a buy-back option built into any deal, mirroring the structure used for García and Palacios.
Neither transfer has been confirmed by any of the clubs involved, and both stories should be treated as reports rather than completed business for now.
