Bank El Ahly chief denies offers for Osama Faisal and rejects claims of Zamalek transfer preference

Bank El Ahly president Ashraf Nassar says the club has received no formal bids for striker Osama Faisal and insists he does not favour selling players to Zamalek.

Speaking to On Sport TV, Nassar stressed that despite regular transfer speculation, there have been no official approaches from any club in Egypt or abroad for the 25-year-old forward.

He said: “The name of Osama Faisal comes up every transfer window, and up to now we have not received any official offer from inside or outside Egypt.”

Nassar revealed that Al Ahly had spoken to the player informally, but that Faisal chose to commit his future to Bank El Ahly.

“Al Ahly contacted the player verbally,” Nassar explained. “When I asked him, he told me he wanted to continue with Bank El Ahly and after that we renewed his contract.”

The club president underlined that there had been no direct communication from Al Ahly to Bank El Ahly at any stage regarding a transfer.

“Al Ahly have never contacted Bank El Ahly at all to sign Osama Faisal, not officially and not even in a friendly manner,” he added.

One of Egypt’s leading strikers

Nassar described Faisal as among the standout centre-forwards currently playing in Egypt, particularly given the shortage of players in that position.

“He is one of the best strikers in Egypt at a time when there is a scarcity in this role,” he said.

He also made clear that any future valuation of the player will be determined internally by the club’s technical and administrative structure.

“We have a committee in the club which will set his transfer fee if a formal offer arrives,” Nassar noted.

Zamalek links dismissed

Nassar firmly rejected suggestions that Bank El Ahly prefer to sell players to Zamalek rather than to other clubs.

Responding to a question on whether Bank El Ahly lean towards doing business with Zamalek, he said: “Bank El Ahly tends to sell players to Zamalek? Absolutely not, the most important thing for me is the interest of Bank El Ahly.”

Faisal’s record and international career

Faisal has made 139 appearances for Bank El Ahly across all competitions, scoring 34 goals and providing 10 assists.

He finished as top scorer in the Capital of Egypt Cup in the 2024-25 season.

Over the last two Egyptian Premier League campaigns, he has been in contention for the league’s Golden Boot, regularly featuring among the leading scorers.

At international level, Faisal has represented Egypt 16 times but has yet to score for the national team.

Despite his domestic form, he was left out of the Egypt squad for the 2026 World Cup.