Zamalek jumped at the opportunity to pick up the talented young Amr Zaki, just a few hours after Ahli were forced to back out of negotiations with Russian side, Lokomotiv Moscow due to the high price tag set for the player.


Earlier today, Ahli marketing director, Adli Al-Qayei told the Egyptian media:

Ahli are no longer interested in this deal. The Russians demanded 1.7 million Euros to release Zaki on a permanent basis but this is too much for Ahli or any other Egyptian club to pay.
We were interested in signing Amr Zaki for his ability n the pitch and desire to play for Ahli but this deal is too pricy for the Egyptian market

After this Zamalek got into the race and Zamalek put up a 1.2 million Euros bid to sign Egyptian striker Amr Zaki from Lokomotiv Moscow, but the Lokomotiv Moscow delegation refusued and Zamalek were forced to raise their offer to 1.4 milion euros, or ₤15.5 million (Egyptian).

If this is true, and we at Soccer Egypt have no reason to doubt it, then the deal will be the biggest soccer transfer fee in the Egyptian sports history .

We accpeted Zamalek offer because they adopted a professional approach to signing the player and also Amr Zaki expressed a desired to play for Zamalek

Radi Drede, the delegate from Lokomotiv announced at the press conference, a few hours ago.

Follow up:

Sources inside Zamalek Sports Club said that Mansour Elblowe, the chairman of the Saudi Arabian club El Itthad, will pay 1 million euros towards this deal while a major cinema production company will pay the rest.


As is well known in Egypt, Amr Zaki is currently undergoing treatment in Germany for a knee inury he picked up a month ago.


Lokomotiv signed Zaki from Enppi after the African Cup of Nations in February but the 23-year-old forward was plagued by injuries and failed to secure a place in the starting line-up.

Amr Zaki was linked with Premiership side Newcastle United in January but he failed to impress during Egypt's campaign towards the African Cup title so instead, he went to Lokomotiv.


But the man's no slouch, Amr Zaki was awarded third place in the Egyptian Player of the Year for 2005, along with [Mohamed] Barakat and [Mohamed] Abotrika.


He's still young and if he can overcome his injury misfortunes, we can expect great things from Amr Zaki over the coming seasons.


You can read Amr Zaki's profile by clicking here