Two of Egypt's most prolific strikers have moved clubs as part of off-season deals, but one transfer in particular has caused alarm bells to ring, reports Ahmed Morsy Much buzz accompanied the signing of Egypt striker Emad Meteb to a two-year contract with the Belgian club Standard Liege after his time with Ahli ran out. Some Egyptian dailies reacted heatedly over the deal concerning the 27-year-old Meteb who, some say, will play alongside an Israeli player. Nabih El-Wahsh, a lawyer, has filed a lawsuit against Meteb for agreeing to play next to the Israeli defender Rami Gershon, demanding the revocation of his Egyptian citizenship. In addition, MP Gamal Zahran requested a briefing in the People's Assembly asking for Meteb's removal from the records of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) as well as annulling his Egyptian nationality. Meteb's agent Nader Shawki denied to the sporting website Filgoal the existence of an Israeli player in Standard Liege. Shawki told Filgoal that Gershon had been on loan to Standard Liege last season but had later officially left the team. Gershon is in Standard Liege but is currently on loan to Zulte-Waregem, a Belgian first division club, according to Wikipedia. Shawki told Al-Ahram Weekly : "the important thing is that Gershon won't play with Standard Liege this season." Shawki did not deny that Gershon is registered with Standard Liege but added that he was now on loan to Zulte-Waregem. "People who demanded the revocation of Meteb's Egyptian citizenship are only trying to search for fame at the expense of the Egypt international striker," Shawki added. As to Meteb's contract, Shawki said: "I can't reveal how much the deal was. However, I assure you he is the highest paid player in Standard Liege." He added that Meteb was scheduled to travel to Belgian within a week to join his new club. Standard Liege is a Belgian football club from the city of Liege. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won the Belgian league on 10 occasions, most recently in 2009. They have also won five Belgian Cups, and in 1982 reached the final of the European Cup, in which they lost 2-1 to Barcelona. Meteb was on the verge of joining English side Bristol City last year, but the deal fell through when he played for Ahli in the 2008 Super Cup. There was another deal this season in the offing from Queens Park Rangers but Meteb turned it down. Meanwhile, Ittihad's forward Mohamed Naggi '' signed a three-year contract with Ahli starting next season. The deal is reportedly worth from LE6.5 million to LE7 million. Four out-of-favour Ahli players are involved in the transfer: Ramzi Saleh, Ateya El-Belkasi, Ahmed Ali and Hani El-Egeizi will join Ittihad pursuant to the agreement. El-Egeizi will join Ittihad on loan for a year while defender El-Belkasi signed a three-year contract. Reports suggest it's only a matter of time before the coastal club signs Ali and Saleh. However, Ahli's coach Hossam El-Badri is apparently keen on keeping Ali. Ahli's arch-rivals Zamalek are expected ask the EFA to prevent Ahli from signing after Zamalek assumed that he had penned a pre-contract with them in January but extended his deal with Ittihad shortly afterwards. Zamalek previously filed a complaint to the EFA. The association announced that the 25-year-old ought to remain an Ittihad player. Zamalek are likely to seek 's suspension for signing for two clubs at the same time. was the top scorer of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations with five goals, scoring all of them as a substitute.
