Ahly brought a premature end to the journey of veteran goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy, informing him that he would no longer be part of the team for the remainder of the season after he posted some controversial tweets concerning another departing teammate. Ekramy was going to leave the club anyway after announcing in March that he will not extend his Ahly deal amid reports linking him with a move to big-spending club Pyramids FC. However, he was due to complete the prolonged season, which was suspended for five months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 36-year-old appeared to pay the price of publicly discussing a controversial saga surrounding Ahly's on-loan winger Ramadan Sobhi, who dropped a bombshell by rejecting the club's offer to sign him on a permanent basis, informing them that he plans to join Pyramids instead. Ekramy, who is Sobhi's brother-in-law, distanced himself from the matter, stressing that all news indicating that he had a role in convincing Sobhi to snub Ahly's offer are completely false. He implied that he is being scapegoated for Ahly's failure to keep hold of Huddersfield winger Sobhi, one of the Cairo giants' standout performers. "Football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz informed Sherif Ekramy that he is out of the club's plans as the team's technical staff prefers to focus on the players who play regularly with the team," read a statement on Ahly's official website on Sunday. Ekramy, who is a product of Ahly's youth academy, spent a short spell with Dutch club Feynoord in 2008 before returning to Egypt one year later to join Gouna. He then returned to Ahly, his boyhood club, in 2010. He lost his place between the sticks in 2017, making way for Mohamed El-Shennawi, who produced a string of strong displays with the Red Devils and the Egyptian national team. Ekramy only made one appearance this season, featuring against Beni Sweif in the Egypt Cup. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
