Ali Maaloul announced through his agent his official departure from Al-Ahly after a career that spanned 9 years inside the Red Castle.
The Tunisian star suffered from a ruptured Achilles tendon in the last year, and he recently completed his recovery, but he was out of coach Marcel Koller’s calculations.
Why did Ali Maaloul leave Al-Ahly?
According to the statement issued by Maaloul’s agent, the reason for the player’s departure from Al-Ahly is to “remove the embarrassment” from Al-Ahly.
Al-Ahly’s management wants the 34-year-old to continue until the end of his contract at the end of last season, but Koller rejects the matter in form and substance.
With the end of the winter transfer period approaching, and the Swiss coach not changing his decision, Maaloul saw that it was best for him to leave immediately.
For its part, Al-Ahly’s management, headed by Mahmoud Al-Khatib and through sports director Mohamed Ramadan, tried to dissuade Koller from his decision to remove Maaloul’s name from the team’s list for this season.
The last meeting between the trio was on Monday evening during Al-Ahly training, but Kohler never changed his mind, and informed the management that Maaloul was out of his plans and that he wanted to replace him with another professional.
الشركة المسئولة عن تسويق علي معلول تعلن رحيله عن الأهلي 🔚 pic.twitter.com/YG1r98I2im
— FilGoal (@FilGoal) January 27, 2025
Who is Ali Maaloul’s replacement at Al-Ahly?
Al-Ahly had contracted with Yahya Attiat Allah from Sochi, Russia, to replace Ali Maaloul in the left-back position.
It is true that the Moroccan was injured in the face and will be absent for a relatively long time, but Al-Ahly has the young Karim Al-Dibes and can also rely on Omar Kamal Abdel-Wahed in the left-back position.
With Maaloul’s departure, Al-Ahly will replace him in the list by adding another professional, specifically in the wing position, as Kohler wants.
Al-Ahly had succeeded in concluding the deal for Achraf Bencharki in its favor, and now there is talk about entering into negotiations with another winger, Derek Kutesa, a player for the Swiss club Servette.
Ali Maaloul’s career with Al-Ahly
Ali Maaloul joined Al-Ahly in the summer of 2016, coming from Tunisian club Sfaxien for less than a million dollars.
Since then, the Tunisian international has played 287 matches with Al Ahly, scoring 51 goals and making 83 assists.
Maaloul won the Egyptian Premier League with Al Ahly 5 times, the Egyptian Super Cup 5 times, the Egypt Cup 4 times, the African Champions League 4 times, the African Super Cup 2 times, and finally the Club World Cup bronze 3 times.