CAIRO: Ahly have completed the signing of Nasr sweeper Mohamed Khalaf, the Cairo giants announced on Wednesday.
Khalaf has signed a deal with us, Ahly marketing director Adli Al-Qaeyi told FilGoal.com.
Nasr spokesman Abdel-Nasser Zidan also confirmed that Khalaf has joined Ahly but refused to disclose the transfer fee.
The Egyptian champions beat arch-rivals Zamalek to the 23-year-old s signature to signal an attention-grabbing opener to their annual transfer duels.
We accepted Ahly s offer upon Khalaf s request. He didn t want to join Zamalek, Zidan added.
Ahly have also signed Nigerian striker Chijioke Abai and Olympic defender Ateya Al-Belkasi, who will link up with the team after the season s end.
A sweeper is still in demand in Egyptian football as the majority of clubs play with a traditional 3-5-2 formation.
Ahly have struggled to fill in for former Egyptian international Emad Al-Nahhas, who twice suffered cruciate ligament damage in less than a year.
Natural central defenders Shadi Mohamed and Mohamed Samir failed to impress while playing as sweepers.
Khalaf could be the solution to Ahly s defensive problems, having impressed for Nasr this season.
Nasr, the club where Ahly legend and current vice-president Mahmoud Al-Khatib began his career, were on the verge of sealing promotion to the Premier League but fell at the last hurdle.
