Four Al Ahly Stars on Renewal Watch: Contracts Teeter on the Edge

Four Al Ahly Stars on Renewal Watch

Al Ahly is increasingly worried about renewing the contracts of four first-team players, which expire at the end of the season.

Aliou Dieng, Ahmed Abdelkader, Hussein Shahat, and Ahmed Nabil Kouka all have deals that run out this season, with no clear progress on extensions.

A club source said the only renewals secured were with Karim Fouad while he was acting as interim sporting director.

Dieng left to participate in the AFCON tournament in Morocco, and there has been no official signature on new terms; Abdelkader's financial demands are said to be substantial.

Kouka has received a Portuguese offer after delays in talks; Shahat's discussions are ongoing and would require a two-year term with mutual consent.

The club president, Mahmoud Al-Khatib, has asked the communications director and the sporting director to intervene to settle the issue completely.

The coaching staff plan to face Ghazl El Mahalla with a youthful and academy-based lineup, boosted only by Hussein Shahat and Mohamed Seha from the first team for the occasion, ahead of a domestic cup tie with Misr Telecommunications.

And just for a touch of levity: If patience were a sport, these renewals would win the league. If contracts were goals, these four would already have a hat-trick by now. In football, timing is everything—and apparently, so is a good joke after a long meeting.