Senegal’s Niang linked with Ahly move

Hatem Maher, Friday 17 Jun 2011

Senegal’s veteran striker Mamadou Niang has reportedly agreed to join Cairo giants Ahly

Mamadou Niang

Senegal striker Mamadou Niang is reportedly close to joining Egyptian heavyweight team Ahly. The 31-year-old allegedly said on his personal Facebook page that he would be leaving Turkish side Fenerbahce to join Ahly, who made no secret of their desire to usher in a foreign striker to bolster up their underperforming frontline.

The speculation started just few weeks after French newspaper L’Equipe quoted Niang as saying that he intends to end his career with Fenerbahce, where he enjoyed a fine debut season after leaving French giants Marseille in the summer of 2010.

Niang would be a major acquisition for Ahly, who have struggled to find a replacement for Flavio Amado since the Angolan’s departure in the summer of 2009.

A prolific scorer with superb aerial abilities, Niang is best known in Egypt for finding the net in Senegal’s 2-1 defeat by the Pharaohs in the 2006 African Cup of Nations semi final, when he out-jumped defender Abdel-Zaher El-Saqqa and headed home a right-wing cross.

He finished as the Turkish league’s third top scorer last season with 15 goals in 29 games. Niang also enjoyed a fruitful five-year spell with Marseille, scoring 100 goals and helping them to the Ligue1 title in 2010 before his departure.

Ahly are struggling for an efficient frontline, given the continued absence of Emad Meteb through injury and the failure of the likes of Mohamed Fadl and Liberian Francis Doe to live up to expectations.

Egyptian reports also said the Red Devils’ wish-list includes Congolese striker Lelo Mbele and Cameroonian Pierre Boya, who plays for Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade.

Ahly, who are eying a seventh consecutive crown, are level on 49 points with arch-rivals Zamalek at the top of the Egyptian Premier League, with six matches remaining.

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