Al Ahly Benghazi agent ‘surprised’ by Zamalek’s response to Ahmed Fattouh offer

Al Ahly Benghazi’s authorised agent for the proposed transfer of Ahmed Fattouh says he was surprised by Zamalek’s handling of the negotiations, claiming members of the Egyptian club’s board held differing views over the deal.

The Libyan club had made an offer to sign the 28-year-old defender, who is out of contract with Zamalek at the end of the current season and will be free to sign for another club from January.

Ahmed Fattouh’s agent, Samir Salah, previously confirmed that Al Ahly Benghazi had submitted a new bid for the player. Tarek Ramadan, the agent authorised by the Libyan club, has now outlined how the discussions developed.

“Initially, there were preliminary talks with Zamalek about Ahmed Fattouh leaving,” Ramadan told Modern Sport. “Based on that, we sent an offer from Al Ahly Benghazi worth 500 dollars. Zamalek then asked us to increase the offer until it reached 700,000 dollars.”

Ramadan said he received no response after the higher bid was submitted, despite some board members approving the proposal.

“I was surprised that there was no reply after sending the offer of 700,000 dollars, even though some members of the board had agreed to it,” he said. “After that, the offer was rejected.”

He added that he contacted Salah while Fattouh was with the Egypt national team after discovering that Zamalek’s position differed from the agreement reached with the club.

“Fattouh offered to waive his outstanding dues and pay part of the value of his contract with the Libyan club to Zamalek, in order to increase the financial value of the offer,” Ramadan said.

The agent also revealed the proposed terms that would have been offered to the player by Al Ahly Benghazi.

“Fattouh would have received 1.5m dollars in his first season with Al Ahly Benghazi, and 2m dollars in the second season,” he said.

Ramadan declined to identify the Zamalek board member who negotiated the proposed transfer fee, but criticised the club’s internal decision-making.

“I cannot reveal the name of the Zamalek board member who negotiated with us over Fattouh’s transfer fee,” he said. “But what I discovered is that the board is not united and each member has a different opinion.”

He said Al Ahly Benghazi were unhappy with the way Zamalek had conducted the negotiations and could reconsider another planned signing from Egypt.

“Al Ahly Benghazi are unhappy with the way Zamalek handled the negotiations to sign Fattouh and are considering withdrawing from talks over another Egyptian player they had intended to sign,” Ramadan said.

Fattouh has recently been used by Zamalek in midfield, with Morocco international Mahmoud Bentayg playing at left-back.

The player has made 212 appearances for Zamalek, scoring seven goals and providing 22 assists. He has won eight trophies with the club: three Egyptian League titles, three Egyptian Super Cups and two Confederation Cups.