CAIRO - Soccer clubs all over the world are vying to hire new footballers in the transfer window, working closely with the players' agents. In Egypt, the competition between the few biggest clubs is always very fierce. Although they have little money, Egypt's traditional arch-rivals Al-Ahly and Zamalek are in dire need of new players. Ahly, for example, need a veteran striker and a left-back. Standard Liege's outcast striker Emad Met'eb will return to Ahly when the transfer window reopens in January. Ahly finalised an agreement with Met'eb to sign him in January. Met'eb joined Belgian side Standard in the close season following the expiry of his contract with Ahly, where he enjoyed a highly successful six-year spell. He cited Egypt's national service as an excuse to annul the two-year contract he signed, but local reports said he just wanted to return to Ahly, who have been struggling without him. Ahly have been unable to find a reliable frontman to fill the void created by Met'eb, who played a key role in helping the Red Devils win a host of local and continental titles over the past six years. A shortage of options upfront has clearly taken its toll on Ahly, who have been struggling in the league this season. The Red Devils also want to hire Arab Contractors' left back Ali Fathi, whom the team's board view favourably. Ahly playmaker Amir Sayoud of Algeria is set to join Kuwait's Arabi Athletic in the winter transfer window on a four-month loan deal. The Red Devils recently announced that the loan offer for the Algerian youngster has been accepted. The talented midfielder has been an outcast since the recent tension between Egypt and his native Algeria in the World Cup qualifiers last year. Zamalek are eyeing strikers, midfielders and goalkeepers. Zamalek coach Hossam Hassan wants the club to provide him with a professional striker after Iraq's Emad Mohamed announced that he will leave the club, while Amr Zaki has yet to recover from a knee injury. Hassan needs a super goalkeeper to replace Essam el-Hadari, who doesn't want to continue with the White Knights. The team hope to sign Ahly's goalie Ahmed Adel Abdel-Moneim to play second fiddle to the White Knights' main keeper, Abdel-Wahed el-Sayyed. Harras Hodoud are interested in landing el-Hadari in the January transfer window, adding that the Egyptian custodian is willing to join the military side too. A number of reports say that the 37- year-old keeper wants to part ways with the White Knights after being benched due to a dispute between the player and the boss. El-Hadari joined Zamalek from Ismaili in the summer on a three-year deal, a move that was surrounded by a lot of media hype. Newly promoted MCDR are seeking to sign Ahly's out-of-favour striker Osama Hosni in the winter transfer window. Hosni, who came up through the ranks from Ahly's youth system, has repeatedly complained of a lack of first-team opportunities in the past couple of seasons, thanks to a succession of injuries. It seems that most Egyptian clubs need new players, but if they fail to complete deals in the winter window, they will have to wait till the summer. Ahly and Zamalek usually compete with each other to snatch new players. In the summer, Ahly signed Zamalek defender Mahmoud Fathallah, while Zamalek countered by hiring Hossam Ashour of Ahly. As for the juniors, Ittihad want to buy Ahly juniors Moustafa Mahmoud, nicknamed Afroto, Saad Eddin Samir and Mohamed Abdel-Fattah.
