Al Ahly’s Winter Blueprint: Foreign Signings on the Agenda After Yazen Al-Naimat’s ACL Blow

Injury and Timing Shifts the Plan

A club official at Al Ahly spoke about Jordan's star Yazen Al-Naimat suffering a cruciate ligament injury during his country's 1-0 win over Iraq on Friday, in the Arab Cup quarterfinal.

Naeemat was tipped to join Al Ahly during the upcoming winter transfer window.

In this regard, the source told Kooora that Naeemat was among the initial considerations to strengthen the squad, but he was not the first choice to bolster the attack.

Naeemat’s Role and the Manager’s Stance

He added: 'Yazen is a talented player, but he primarily excels on the wings or as a false nine, while the Danish Jes Torup, Al Ahly's manager, requested a striker.'

He continued: 'Al Ahly cannot afford to sign a large number of foreign players, and the club's management handles the signing file with extreme sensitivity, given the desire to reinforce the striker position and the left-back, while other positions will be supported with players under the age of 23'.

Targets and Youth Strategy

The source explained: 'Al Ahly aims to sign an overseas striker and an overseas left-back, with Yusuf Bel'Amri (Raja Casablanca player) the closest to this position, along with signing two under-23 foreign defenders/defensive midfielders'.

Punchline: If they sign all these foreigners, is Al Ahly the United Nations of football?

Punchline 2: And yet the squad still needs a vibe-check left-back—passport not required.