Tunisia and Sfaxien left wing-back Ali Maaloul announced that he officially joined Ahly after the two clubs finalised the deal on Sunday. "I was a former Sfaxien player but now I'm an Ahly player," Maaloul told a television programme late on Sunday. "I signed a four-year contract with Ahly and I hope to meet the fans and management's expectations," he added. "My target with Ahly is to appear and perform well, and help the team win trophies." The deal took two weeks of negotiations between the Tunisian and the Egyptian sides and started two weeks ago when Ahly football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz revealed that Maaloul is close to wearing the Red Devils' jersey and that an official announcement on the deal will come soon. The 26-year-old defender Maaloul has had a regular place in CS Sfaxien's squad since coming from the youth sector of the team, scoring 16 goals and assisting in another four. He made his international debut with Tunisia's national team against Morocco on 6 July 2013. Ahly have reached an agreement with CS Sfaxien to meet Maaloul's pay-out clause, which is reported to be 500,000 euros. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
