El-Sayed Hamdi (C) of Egypt's Ahly celebrates with teammates after scoring against Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima during their Club World Cup soccer match in Toyota, central Japan December 9, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)
El-Sayed Hamdi, who was recently given a new lease of life at Egypt’s Ahly, said on Friday he is considering leaving the Cairo giants and joining Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad.
The deep-lying forward has been in an impressive form lately, scoring some crucial goals including the one that salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Tunisia’s Esperance in the first leg of the African Champions League final last November.
Ahly went on to claim the title with a 3-2 aggregate victory after outplaying the defending champions in the second leg.
“I’m awaiting an official offer from Ittihad Jeddah to present it to Ahly’s football committee,” Hamdi said in a television interview.
“Receiving an offer from a big club like Ittihad will prompt me to consider having a new experience abroad.”
Hamdi, who joined Ahly from fellow Egyptian Premier League side Petrojet in the summer of 2011, struggled to play first-team football under Portuguese coach Manuel Jose but his fortunes were turned around by the arrival of Hossam El-Badry.
El-Badry relied on Hamdi as one of his regular frontmen and he repaid the coach’s faith with a series of superb displays that earned him a call-up to Egypt’s squad.
He was included in the Pharaohs’ starting line-up during their 3-0 defeat by Ghana in a friendly game in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
Several Egyptian players, including Zamalek star Mahmoud Abdel-Razek 'Shikabala', moved to Arab Gulf clubs in the wake of last year's Port Said disaster, which forced a lengthy suspension of domestic football.
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