Mohamed Salah sets Trabzon municipal council alight: what is the story?

Mohamed Salah's transfer to Trabzonspor was no ordinary piece of football business. It became a political and diplomatic event that topped the agenda of the Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality Council meeting in November.

Inside the council chamber, with mayor Ahmet Metin Genç present, no name cropped up more than the Egyptian star's. Talk turned to a new "friendship" born between Egypt and Trabzon, forged through football.

The Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality Council met in November under the chairmanship of mayor Ahmet Metin Genç, according to Turkish website "61saat".

During the meeting, New Welfare Party council member Mustafa Küçük İbrahimoğlu assessed the programme held in Egypt as part of Trabzon's international promotional efforts.

İbrahimoğlu argued that Salah's transfer had laid the foundations of an important friendship between Trabzon and Egypt, and he thanked Trabzonspor for the step.

Having helped organise the programme in Egypt, Küçük İbrahimoğlu explained that the move had done plenty to strengthen relations between the two countries.

He said in his speech: "I also took part in the visit to Egypt. First, I would like to thank Trabzonspor for cementing the bonds of friendship between Egypt and Trabzon by completing Salah's transfer deal. I hope our visit will be fruitful."

Küçük İbrahimoğlu insisted the transfer had brought Egypt and Trabzon closer together, and he highlighted the maroon and blue club's role in the process.

Salah, then, is no longer just a player at Trabzonspor. He has become a bridge between two countries, an unofficial ambassador linking the shores of the Black Sea with the banks of the Nile, in a story that began with a transfer deal and grew into a solid friendship.