Tunisian defensive midfielder Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud of Swiss Super League side FC Lugano is being linked with a return to his homeland with Esperance Tunis, according to transfer speculation emerging from Switzerland and Tunisia.
The 26-year-old, valued at €2.00m on Transfermarkt, is the subject of interest from the Tunisian Ligue 1 giants, with reports suggesting Esperance are assessing the conditions for a potential deal. The move is currently listed with an unspecified probability, underlining that talks are at an exploratory stage and no agreement has been reached.
Belhadj Mahmoud, who wears the number 29 shirt for Lugano, operates primarily as a defensive midfielder and is right-footed. Born in Sousse on 24 April 2000, he has built his reputation as a screening midfielder capable of breaking up play and recycling possession, attributes that would fit the traditional holding role at Esperance.
There is an additional layer of intrigue around the Tunisian’s future because the available data lists no fixed contract expiry date at Lugano. That raises the prospect that he could either be approaching the end of his deal or potentially become a free agent, a scenario that would make a move to Esperance significantly more straightforward from a financial perspective. Clubs in North Africa have increasingly targeted players in such situations to avoid transfer fees and focus resources on wages and signing-on bonuses.
In recent weeks, Belhadj Mahmoud has continued to feature in Lugano’s campaign in the Swiss Super League. In a recent league fixture against domestic opposition – part of their late-season run-in – he was deployed in his usual screening role, contributing to Lugano’s defensive shape across the full 90 minutes as they battled to protect their back line. While that match did not alter his statistical profile dramatically, it underlined his status as a regular option in the centre of the pitch and a player trusted in competitive encounters.
Standing at 1.79m, Belhadj Mahmoud has experience at senior level in Europe with Lugano after emerging from Tunisian football, and a move to Esperance would mark a return to a league and environment he already knows culturally and linguistically. The Tunisian club, who regularly compete for domestic titles and continental qualification, are understood to be monitoring opportunities to refresh their midfield options ahead of the next campaign.
With a market value of €2.00m, any formal transfer while he remains under contract in Switzerland would likely require negotiation over a fee, but the lack of publicly listed contract end date keeps alive the alternative scenario of a free transfer if his current agreement has run down. For now, the links remain at rumour stage, with the probability of the deal proceeding described as “?” on the transfer listing, indicating that no clear signal has yet emerged from either club.
Should the move materialise, a switch from Lugano back to Tunis could represent a pivotal step in Belhadj Mahmoud’s career, offering him the platform of regular continental competition with Esperance and the chance to enhance his reputation as a key midfield anchor in one of Africa’s most high-profile football markets.
