\n<\/p>\n
Located on the Black Sea coast, the city of Trabzon sits near the border with Georgia in the north-east corner of Turkey.<\/p>\n
With a population of around 800,000 people, it is not even in the top 20 when it comes to the country’s largest urban centres.<\/p>\n
But Dogan claims it has something special.<\/p>\n
“I always say this about Trabzonspor and the city – we’re the biggest one-club city in the world.<\/p>\n
“Salah asked us something like, ‘Why should I choose Trabzonspor now?’<\/p>\n
“We told him about the city and said: ‘You can be sure you will meet a group of supporters unlike any you have experienced before. You’ll feel the genuine love those people have inside them’.”<\/p>\n
Born in January 1977, Dogan is himself a son of Trabzon.<\/p>\n
The businessman made his money through a series of different ventures, including real estate and hazelnuts, before moving into the energy sector and specialising in biofuels.<\/p>\n
He became Trabzonspor president in 2023, shortly after the club’s most successful season in recent memory – having won the league title in 2021-22.<\/a><\/p>\n Under Dogan’s watch, the Black Sea Storm, as the club is known, have finished third, seventh and third in the Super Lig.<\/p>\n Last season they won the Turkish Cup under coach Fatih Tekke, who is now looking to guide his team into the Europa League, despite a 1-0 home defeat in the first leg of their play-off tie against Hungary’s Ferencvaros.<\/p>\n “We are working to make Trabzonspor and Trabzon itself a destination for talented young players from all over the world,” said Dogan.<\/p>\n “We want to take them to the next level, to move on to bigger European clubs. Those young players\u2026 [combined with] star players\u2026 a star in every way, with their lifestyle, their professionalism, their smile, their positive energy.<\/p>\n “Mohamed Salah is a really great example in this respect.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n