Ahly's assistant coach Mohamed Youssef has said that his side is still in the market and will take their time until they finalise their 24-man African squad as they still have two unregistered spots. "No new registries will be made before Saturday's game. We have until 4 August for this task," the tactician told the club's official website Monday morning. Ahly, who recovered from a poor start to their African Champions League group stage campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory over the Township Rollers on Tuesday in Alexandria, giving new coach Patrice Carteron a winning start, will play them again in Botswana. This season, the African record holders Ahly only signed Malian central defender Salif Coulibaly, 30, for the next two years, from the Congolese side TP Mazembe The Malian defender became the fifth foreign-based player in Ahly's squad for this season, alongside Moroccan striker Walid Azaro, Tunisian fullback Aly Maaloul, Nigerian winger Junior Ajayi, and South African forward Phakamani Mahlambi. With Coulibaly's signing, Ahly will have to offload one of these players to comply with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) rules that give clubs the right to register only four foreign-based players in their squad. Ahly, who won their 40th league title last season, are looking to strengthen their back-line before the next season starts in August. They moved up to second place in Group A with four points, three behind leaders Esperance. Kampala and Township Rollers have three points each.
