The Gaza Strip is excited.
In the past 24 hours multiple reports in Egypt and Palestine has been dealing with a remarkable story from Gaza: Egyptian mega-club Al-Ahly Cairo is set to sign Palestinian starlet Mahmoud Al-Salami, a young talent from Ittihad Shujaiya, for a five season contract.
Al-Salami, 21, is nicknamed ‘The Gazan Messi’ and has attracted a lot of attention from a few clubs in Egyptian football, and held talks with both Al-Ahly & Zamalek over his services.
In an interview for the "Al Watan" website after signing for the Red Devils, the player has revealed the details of the sudden transfer deal from the war-torn neighborhood, to the biggest club in Africa.
According to the interview, these negotiations were exclusive and were kept silence in the past week, but turned to reality when Al-Salami went to Cairo a couple of days ago. In the same time, Zamalek, Al-Ahly’s biggest rivals, has tried to pursue him too. What made the decision easier for Al-Salami is a talk with Al-Ahly’s former star, Alaa Mihoub, and Mahmoud ‘Bibo’ Al-Khatib, Al-Ahly’s president, who brought him the club’s shirt.
Al-Salami got his nickname, ‘The Gazan Messi’ thanks to his style of play, that is quite similar the one of the Argentinean legend of FC Barcelona. He is also a big fan of Mohamed Aboutrika.
In a message to Al-Ahly fans, Al-Salami said: “All I would like to say to the fans is that I pray to God to be in my best for them, to be able to make them happy, and that I dream of winning many tournaments with the team.”
Al-Salami won’t count as a foreign player at Al-Ahly, as from last season Syrian and Palestinian players are eligible to play in Egyptian teams as locals.
Everything seems to be ready for Al-Salami official presentation in Egypt’s & the Arab world most prominent club of them all, to make his move an official one.