Al-Ahly yet to approach Enppi over Kalousha, Hamed Abdullah – Al-Shari’i

Enppi president Ayman Al-Shari’i has dismissed reports linking defender Ahmed Kalousha with a move to Al-Ahly, insisting that the Egyptian giants have not opened negotiations ahead of the January transfer window.

Kalousha, who captains Enppi, has repeatedly been linked with a switch to Al-Ahly, including during the previous winter transfer window.

However, Al-Shari’i says there has been no formal approach from the Cairo-based club regarding the defender.

Speaking to MBC Egypt 2, he said: “Ahmed Kalousha to Al-Ahly? There are no negotiations or hints from the Red officials.”

He explained that his relationship with Al-Ahly’s management is strong enough for any potential transfer discussions to take place directly, without the involvement of intermediaries.

“There has been communication between me and Al-Ahly’s management since the deals for Ali Mahmoud and Aktai Abdullah last summer, so I think if there was a desire to sign Kalousha, they would have contacted me directly. The relationship does not need an intermediary,” he added.

Al-Shari’i, however, confirmed that Al-Ahly previously expressed interest in signing another Enppi player, Hamed Abdullah.

He revealed that the Egyptian champions attempted to secure the forward’s services before the transfer window closed last summer, but Enppi opted to retain him because of their technical requirements.

“Al-Ahly wanted to sign him at the beginning of this season, but we decided to postpone the deal until January or next summer, and so far, Al-Ahly has not approached us again about this matter,” he said.

He explained that Enppi were reluctant to sanction Abdullah’s departure because he remained an important part of their plans, while Al-Ahly were not under immediate pressure to complete the signing.

The Enppi president also disclosed that discussions never progressed to the stage of negotiating a transfer fee.

“We did not discuss the financial details of the Hamed Abdullah deal with Al-Ahly, because the negotiations did not reach that stage, but his situation would have been different due to his young age,” he said.

Meanwhile, Al-Shari’i dismissed suggestions that Al-Ahly and Pyramids FC were interested in signing Enppi youngster Ali Ehab.

According to him, neither club has contacted Enppi about the player, describing the reports as speculation originating from the media.

He also highlighted Enppi’s commitment to developing young players, predicting that more of their academy graduates would attract attention from leading Egyptian clubs.

Al-Shari’i specifically mentioned Nour Ashraf, Omar Al-Azab and Mohamed Sharqia, all born in 2007, as emerging talents who could soon generate transfer interest.

Enppi have developed a reputation for identifying and nurturing young footballers, with their youth development programme continuing to play an important role in supplying talent to Egyptian football.