City to hold Zaki talks

Manchester City have turned their attention to Wigan striker Amr Zaki after his blistering start to life in the Premier League.


Zaki joined the Latics on a season-long loan deal from
El Zamalek in Egypt this summer and has settled immediately in England,
scoring seven goals in his first eight league games, including a brace
in Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Liverpool.Steve Bruce insists that
Wigan have an agreement in principle with the Cairo club to sign Zaki
at the end of his loan stint, but the Egypt international's superb form
has alerted a number of clubs.The JJB Stadium fans have
immediately taken Zaki to their hearts, with the forward admitting how
much he is enjoying life in the North West.Talks

But
City's recent takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group makes them
heavyweights in the transfer market with manager Mark Hughes having
already been given the funds to bring in Robinho from Real Madrid for
£32.5million.The Eastlands outfit are looking to build a squad
capable of challenging for silverware at home and abroad and have
identified the powerful Zaki as the ideal candidate to lead their
attack.El Zamalek confirmed that they are set to hold
discussions with City in the coming days in a bid to resolve Zaki's
long-term future.A statement from the Egyptian club read: "A
Zamalek delegation will fly to either Manchester or Abu Dhabi, not
determined yet, to hold talks with City representatives over Zaki."

Wouldn't be surprised if Zamalek choose to sell high. Bet Wigan are regretting not snapping him up now. All they had to do was pay £4m for a proven top quality striker. Absolute bargain and they blew it. Deserve to be screwed, especially after trying to screw Zamalek. I hear Hossam Hassan is available - Egyptian legend and proven goal-scorer.

especially since Bruce claims he's been after him for a while. Although I maintain my original point that £4m is still a lot of money for Dave Whelan to spend on a older player who had never played in Europe, it was up to Bruce to vouch for him.

Could be a bidding war if his performances are consistent over the next couple of months. Let's see how he copes with the cold.

City will be linked with everyone under the Sun who is half decent.

EMP wrote:Wouldn't be surprised if Zamalek choose to sell high. Bet Wigan are regretting not snapping him up now. All they had to do was pay £4m for a proven top quality striker. Absolute bargain and they blew it. Deserve to be screwed, especially after trying to screw Zamalek. I hear Hossam Hassan is available - Egyptian legend and proven goal-scorer.

Sorry but what.

Never played in one of the European leagues let alone yet on of the big European leagues so how is he a proven top quality striker.

Wigan as a whole are playing very well. Who knows considering ppl here were claiming Torres would suffer from 2nd season syndrome, whos not to say the same won't happen to Zaki. Maybe he is one of these big fish in a small pond type players. Not saying he is but to say he is proven is far fetched

City will get him if they are actually interested, nobody will be able to compete unless he declares that he wants to remain at Wigan or a Liverpool or Chelsea come in for him. City will still outbid everyone else but if it comes down to choosing a top European side or City I'd like to think he'd pick the former, no offence Goat when you read this.. I honestlyt do like City

Any club that has half a brain (which rules out Spurs, Newcastle, and City with their new-found money) will wait till next summer before trying to buy Zaki. Like Glenn said, let's see how he is in the cold with games every 3 days.

kas wrote:Any club that has half a brain (which rules out Spurs, Newcastle, and City with their new-found money) will wait till next summer before trying to buy Zaki. Like Glenn said, let's see how he is in the cold with games every 3 days.

Anyone remember Elano last season. Bottled when the tough and rough of the winter period games followed one after another in quick succession.

Ade Alves wrote:

kas wrote:Any club that has half a brain (which rules out Spurs, Newcastle, and City with their new-found money) will wait till next summer before trying to buy Zaki. Like Glenn said, let's see how he is in the cold with games every 3 days.

Anyone remember Elano last season. Bottled when the tough and rough of the winter period games followed one after another in quick succession.

Geovanni too

Ade Alves wrote:

EMP wrote:Wouldn't be surprised if Zamalek choose to sell high. Bet Wigan are regretting not snapping him up now. All they had to do was pay £4m for a proven top quality striker. Absolute bargain and they blew it. Deserve to be screwed, especially after trying to screw Zamalek. I hear Hossam Hassan is available - Egyptian legend and proven goal-scorer.

Sorry but what.

Never played in one of the European leagues let alone yet on of the big European leagues so how is he a proven top quality striker.

Take your Eurocentric blinkers off! Football is played at top quality in Africa as well. He has excelled in Egypt, which is a top league in Africa and in African football. He has twice performed exceptionally well in the African Cup of Nations. Bruce tracked him for while - others did too. He slipped under radar of many because of this Eurocentric bullshit.

Wigan as a whole are playing very well. Who knows considering ppl here were claiming Torres would suffer from 2nd season syndrome, whos not to say the same won't happen to Zaki. Maybe he is one of these big fish in a small pond type players. Not saying he is but to say he is proven is far fetched

He might, but we differ. I don't discount football played outside of Europe. You do. So you have to exclude the best player in Africa - Mohamed Aboutreika - I don't. Hopefully he wins African Player of Year or Zaki, so this Eurocentric bullshit gets knocked down. Aboutreika may never play in Europe not because he isn't good enough, but because he doesn't want to. Egypt has an exceptionally well organised league and infrastructure and I'll hazard a guess that you have never seen Egyptians play except in European clubs and the odd game at ACN. So how can you judge them?

City will get him if they are actually interested, nobody will be able to compete unless he declares that he wants to remain at Wigan or a Liverpool or Chelsea come in for him. City will still outbid everyone else but if it comes down to choosing a top European side or City I'd like to think he'd pick the former, no offence Goat when you read this.. I honestlyt do like City

Wigan deserve to get screwed. They had same mentality as you. Thought he wasn't proven so didn't want to take risk. Hope it backfires and they get royally screwed by Zamalek

EMP, you may be right about the quality of football in Africa and Egypt specifically, but I don't think Wigan can be blamed outright for wanting him on an initial loan deal. How many players have come from Egypt and been instant success in the Premier League? Especially strikers...very few. Combined with Wigan's lack of money, a bit of prudence is unsurprising on their part.

Basically Ade's point is that - there's not much precedent for players like Zaki, though he might have created one now, opening the door for Aboutreika et al.

kas wrote:EMP, you may be right about the quality of football in Africa and Egypt specifically, but I don't think Wigan can be blamed outright for wanting him on an initial loan deal. How many players have come from Egypt and been instant success in the Premier League? Especially strikers...very few. Combined with Wigan's lack of money, a bit of prudence is unsurprising on their part.

Basically Ade's point is that - there's not much precedent for players like Zaki, though he might have created one now, opening the door for Aboutreika et al.

Wigan held Zamalek to ransom. Bruce tracked Zaki at ACN for Birmingham. They basically unsettled him at Zamalek and got him to force a move for £4m. Having done that they then insisted on it being on loan to cover themselves in case he didn't work out. Zamalek own him and should get whatever they can for him. They didn't want to sell and basically got forced into the deal by Zaki who wanted to play in England and Wigan who wanted to Zamalek to lose their star striker and take the risk associated with losing him. I hope they get screwed over for it.

Don't think Aboutreika will come to Europe and nor does he need to. Others might, but I guess it will be the younger ones now. Exception is the keeper Tawfik al-Hadary who went to Europe - Switzerland - last season. Another point is that Cameroon mostly has players basedvin Europe including ones supposedly at top level as do Ivory Coast. Both were handed football lessons by a country whose players largely play not in Europe but in Africa. They have to be talented to achieve that and are whether they play in Europe or not.

Ade Alves wrote:

EMP wrote:Wouldn't be surprised if Zamalek choose to sell high. Bet Wigan are regretting not snapping him up now. All they had to do was pay £4m for a proven top quality striker. Absolute bargain and they blew it. Deserve to be screwed, especially after trying to screw Zamalek. I hear Hossam Hassan is available - Egyptian legend and proven goal-scorer.

Sorry but what.

Never played in one of the European leagues let alone yet on of the big European leagues so how is he a proven top quality striker.

Wigan as a whole are playing very well. Who knows considering ppl here were claiming Torres would suffer from 2nd season syndrome, whos not to say the same won't happen to Zaki. Maybe he is one of these big fish in a small pond type players. Not saying he is but to say he is proven is far fetched

City will get him if they are actually interested, nobody will be able to compete unless he declares that he wants to remain at Wigan or a Liverpool or Chelsea come in for him. City will still outbid everyone else but if it comes down to choosing a top European side or City I'd like to think he'd pick the former, no offence Goat when you read this.. I honestlyt do like City

Non taken

Until i hear it confirmed by us i wont reallly believe it cos they could just be sing us to get the price up. Zaki looks good but he isnt proven and i hope if we get him we dont pay over the top r him, £4m is a decent price. The thing is we have Boj coming back in a few months and i think he is better than Zaki, any striker who comes in has to be top quality.

@ EMP -

I'm desperately sorry I do not have Egyptian or African football in general on my tv. I don't have the time either to watch it via streaming as the EPL and La Liga take up most of my football time. It isn't anything most people keep up with you must understand that EMP. All I remember was one club from Egypt did very well in the World Club Championships and impressed there a couple of years or so ago. I have been told African and football in Egypt is making big strides every year with the quality of football also.

As for doing well in the ACN. So what? El Hadj Diouf was voted the best player in Africa wasn't he and him plus his team did amazingly well in WC02. Most of them are nothing now playing for nothing clubs and are starring for such top clubs as Sunderland, Stoke and what not.

You might take cup competetions as something that helps define a player's ability but I certainly do not.

Also Greecew beat many a top team on their way to winning Euro 2004 and most of their players are based in Greece. They are accustomed to knowing each other and have played with and againist each numerous times thus building up an understanding and bond that help them beat the likes of Portugal, Czechs(?) and such. The same applies very much to Egypt. Cameroon's players excl maybe Eto'o plus a couple others are average from what I saw ACN and the 10 or so years. Same goes for Nigeria.

As for judging him
No I'am not. I have said the guy needs time before we all really judge him. So I have no idea where you're coming from.

You know jackshit if you think I discount football outside Europe. I try to keep up to date with football in Argentina and Brazil and while Russia is part of Europe I doubt many here watched as many games as I did of Russian football when CSKA were best there. I used to watch a bit of J-League but that was down to an uncle of mine who took me to see a game when over there. Sadly Uni, working and having a gf means my time is more restricted to a few leagues. Please don't be so silly to dismiss me like in your comment.

I have also seen football Egypt though from a far in our hotel room above the stadium..

Like I said he has been fantastic so far. The winter period will be a test for him and any new player coming from far and away to the EPL espically in their first season. Lets see how he does until the end of the season. If he does remain in the EPL for another season then will second season syndrome kick in, well beside Torres a few others who does more often enough than not.

He has proved himself in Egypt, good for him. He is doing very well in the EPL so far but he is not proven at present as far as I'm concerned and I 100% disagree if you think otherwise.

I do believe he will go on to prove himself in the EPL if you must know but I'm not saying he is proven cause it is too early to say such a thing... yet.

Ade Alves wrote:@ EMP -

I'm desperately sorry I do not have Egyptian or African football in general on my tv. I don't have the time either to watch it via streaming as the EPL and La Liga take up most of my football time. It isn't anything most people keep up with you must understand that EMP.

That's no problem, but don't judge it as inferior. Point is you admit you haven't seen it, but you are passing judgment on it. I don't think that is reasonable. It would be the same as saying Liverpool are on the same level as Bolton for example - worse even without having bothered to see them play.

All I remember was one club from Egypt did very well in the World Club Championships and impressed there a couple of years or so ago. I have been told African and football in Egypt is making big strides every year with the quality of football also.

Al Ahly - the team that Aboutreika plays for and had a sensational year in 2006 and a pretty good one again this year.

As for doing well in the ACN. So what? El Hadj Diouf was voted the best player in Africa wasn't he and him plus his team did amazingly well in WC02. Most of them are nothing now playing for nothing clubs and are starring for such top clubs as Sunderland, Stoke and what not.

And?

You might take cup competetions as something that helps define a player's ability but I certainly do not.

No Al-Ahly do well in Cup and league. Zamalek are usually there or thereabouts and Al Ahly are dominant in Africa. Don't rate Cups fine lets ignore the European Championship as well then. Let's not mention Senna or Casillas either - after all Euros was only a cup competition as well.

Also Greecew beat many a top team on their way to winning Euro 2004 and most of their players are based in Greece.

And disappeared afterewards. Egypt didn't. They changed the system and dominated with fine attacking football.

They are accustomed to knowing each other and have played with and againist each numerous times thus building up an understanding and bond that help them beat the likes of Portugal, Czechs(?) and such. The same applies very much to Egypt. Cameroon's players excl maybe Eto'o plus a couple others are average from what I saw ACN and the 10 or so years. Same goes for Nigeria.

As for judging him
No I'am not. I have said the guy needs time before we all really judge him. So I have no idea where you're coming from.

You said he was not proven because he hasn't played in top European league. That is judging him. It discounts achievements in Egypt while knowing f@ck all about Egyptian football. That is judging both him and Egyptian football. If you know enough to make such a judgment from knowledge of both - something you already admitted you don't that would be fair enough, so you have judged both him and Egyptian football, by deciding that having played there he can't be a proven striker.

You know jackshit if you think I discount football outside Europe.

In terms of this thread you did that. Zaki had to play in top European league to be proven according to you.

I

try to keep up to date with football in Argentina and Brazil and while Russia is part of Europe I doubt many here watched as many games as I did of Russian football when CSKA were best there. I used to watch a bit of J-League but that was down to an uncle of mine who took me to see a game when over there. Sadly Uni, working and having a gf means my time is more restricted to a few leagues.

Glad to hear it.

Please don't be so silly to dismiss me like in your comment.

Just meant you are in no position to judge if your opinion is not based on a reasonable working knowledge of Egyptian football as well. Your comments by implication dismissed it as capable of making him a proven striker. African football is not the pile of Cr@p that it once was any more. It should be given a proper chance.

I

have also seen football Egypt though from a far in our hotel room above the stadium..

Delighted to hear it.

Like I said he has been fantastic so far. The winter period will be a test for him and any new player coming from far and away to the EPL espically in their first season. Lets see how he does until the end of the season. If he does remain in the EPL for another season then will second season syndrome kick in, well beside Torres a few others who does more often enough than not.

Don't disagree.

He has proved himself in Egypt, good for him.

And that entitles him to be considered a proven striker. It isn't a Micky Mouse league. Clearly those European teams that tracked him believe that proving himself in Egypt proves something - that he has proven talent and could succeed in Europe as well.

He is doing very well in the EPL so far but he is not proven at present as far as I'm concerned and I 100% disagree if you think otherwise.

If you apply same logic to Italians and Spaniards too fair enough. And I mean in Torres' case that his achievements in Spain do not entitle him to be considered a proven striker as temperature in Spain and Egypt not far apart. Do you apply playing in cold to him as well?

I do believe he will go on to prove himself in the EPL if you must know but I'm not saying he is proven cause it is too early to say such a thing... yet.

If you want to say not proven in England fair enough, we can agree on that, but it applies to anyone in first season here regardless of where they come from. For example is Shevchenko a proven striker in England?

I think you're being a bit harsh on Wigan, EMP. I struggle to believe that the Egyptian league is, in quality, on a par with the top European leagues - I haven't seen any Egyptian football (and yet, verily I say, blessed are those who have not seen, and yet still believe) - but however good the league is, I think it is fair to consider, or to presume, that the step from the Egyptian league to the English league might prove a bigger one, if not in terms of quality then perhaps in terms of culture, profile, and so on, than the step from one top European league to another.

It seems that Zaki is comfortably worth £4 million, and I agree that, if Bruce tracked him for some time before moving for him, then it was up to him to vouch for Zaki and to win the money to buy him outright. He may have erred in not taking more of a risk. Still, I think he and Wigan have shown some degree of faith in Zaki by bringing him to the club and by playing him regularly - and that is certainly paying off, and he looks like an excellent player - but still, even if that faith perhaps didn't stretch far enough, it is faith (and an awareness of the player in the first place) that other clubs haven't shown.

I'd like to see Zaki stick with Wigan. I think it would be good for both parties; plus, Zaki seems to be building some sort of rapport with Wigan and with their supporters, kissing the shirt after his second against Liverpool at the weekend.

Bashmachkin wrote:I think you're being a bit harsh on Wigan, EMP. I struggle to believe that the Egyptian league is, in quality, on a par with the top European leagues - I haven't seen any Egyptian football (and yet, verily I say, blessed are those who have not seen, and yet still believe) - but however good the league is, I think it is fair to consider, or to presume, that the step from the Egyptian league to the English league might prove a bigger one, if not in terms of quality then perhaps in terms of culture, profile, and so on, than the step from one top European league to another.

It seems that Zaki is comfortably worth £4 million, and I agree that, if Bruce tracked him for some time before moving for him, then it was up to him to vouch for Zaki and to win the money to buy him outright. He may have erred in not taking more of a risk. Still, I think he and Wigan have shown some degree of faith in Zaki by bringing him to the club and by playing him regularly - and that is certainly paying off, and he looks like an excellent player - but still, even if that faith perhaps didn't stretch far enough, it is faith (and an awareness of the player in the first place) that other clubs haven't shown.

I'd like to see Zaki stick with Wigan. I think it would be good for both parties; plus, Zaki seems to be building some sort of rapport with Wigan and with their supporters, kissing the shirt after his second against Liverpool at the weekend.

Perhaps I am, but as I see it Wigan tried to screw Zamalek. They never though he would get off to such a start. They hedged their bets, so Zamalek lost out if Zaki didn't work out. £4m was a steal. Bruce knew it. He tracked him for several months - even going to Ghana and later Egypt personally - the manager himself. That was serious tracking. He should have insisted. £4m has been pretty much paid back already and not just with goals. Both he and Wigan fans took to eachother, but Wigan tried to screw Zamalek who should now return the favour. Zaki forced a move on loan with no regard for Zamalek and Wigan had no regard either. They should get maximum for him that they can and if that screws Wigan then tough $h!t - they weren't angels in this. Egyptian league has quality because its infrastructure has been properly developed. The top teams are pretty good. Hopefully media will wake up to African football and televise more competitions. There will be culture shock, but Egyptians are not $h!t on a stick - they are good players. Aboutreika is every bit as good as Africans who play in Europe. Africa badly needs him to win the African Player of the Year award so they wake up too. It isn't just Europe that needs to wake up to them; it is Africa too. Al Ahly could compete in any league - not saying they would win it, but they could give good account of selves. They came third in World Club Championship and only lost semi by a whisker. Just saying they should get some respect, or at least not be dismissed sight unseen.

what's the largest transfer fee an African side has received for a player?

Glenn Hysén wrote:what's the largest transfer fee an African side has received for a player?

Not enough.

They regularly get screwed. I think Chelsea could have had Essien from source in Ghana for under a million , but they dithered so he went to France and the French club pocketed a fortune later. Egypt is one of the few largely untapped talent pools in Africa. They don't have to sell and generally don't. The ACN winning players got humungous bonuses. Most top European clubs scout African youth tournaments and pillage early, so big fees don't tend to happen. Aboutreika would have been an interesting one.

Manucho's transfer to Man Utd. was said to be in region of €10.5m

Zaki the Paki is pretty good I must say. Though Deadly Dirk made him eat dust!

that's bollocks

What's bollocks Glenn? If you mean Manucho fee saw a link that suggested that, although it is listed most places as undisclosed.

Most transfers are undisclosed... why would any business want to let their rivals know the terms... its entirely uncompetitive... most transfer fees are 'plucked from the sky'

No party benefits from public knowledge of a transfer fee... whether you accept it or not, most transfer fees are not what they are reported to be...

Football Genius wrote:Most transfers are undisclosed... why would any business want to let their rivals know the terms... its entirely uncompetitive... most transfer fees are 'plucked from the sky'

No party benefits from public knowledge of a transfer fee... whether you accept it or not, most transfer fees are not what they are reported to be...

No I can accept what you say. the 10.5 was the only thing I could find. Most African transfers make thousands for African clubs and millions for the Europeans. Now young talent leaves cheap as well and in some cases are developed by European clubs as well. My comments on Zaki fee were in comparison to other known fees. He's 24 - not ancient and pretty good. £4m for such a striker in my opinion was dirt cheap.

£6M according to the english press.

TM wrote:£6M according to the english press.

£6m is said now. It was 4 in summer and Wigan insisted on loan instead. Now it could and should cost them as Zamalek should get best they can for him.

Think Bolton paid about £2m for Jaidi.

Anyways,

Zaki isn't a flash in the pan. Many identified him as a definate player to watch before the season even started.

Simply put, if you compare him to, say, Benjani, he is better at almost everything.

Bejnai, like Zaki had a great start to the season last year, but he always looked somewhat clumsy on the ball, he often lacked the conviction to chase a ball down and he certainly didn't have the technique to score similar goals to what Zaki has.

I think Zaki has acheived far better than anyone had imagined - I personally was expecting him to get about 10-15 goals in total whereas I now would expect him to at a minimum get 15 goals.

EMP wrote:

Football Genius wrote:Most transfers are undisclosed... why would any business want to let their rivals know the terms... its entirely uncompetitive... most transfer fees are 'plucked from the sky'

No party benefits from public knowledge of a transfer fee... whether you accept it or not, most transfer fees are not what they are reported to be...

No I can accept what you say. the 10.5 was the only thing I could find. Most African transfers make thousands for African clubs and millions for the Europeans. Now young talent leaves cheap as well and in some cases are developed by European clubs as well. My comments on Zaki fee were in comparison to other known fees. He's 24 - not ancient and pretty good. £4m for such a striker in my opinion was dirt cheap.

I don't care whether you can accept whether what i say is right, its the truth... as clubs increasingly become privatised, the clubs right to publically release accurate information becomes minimal. That is fact... speculation drives the price as opposed to fact...

Tweedle wrote:Think Bolton paid about £2m for Jaidi.

Anyways,

Zaki isn't a flash in the pan. Many identified him as a definate player to watch before the season even started.

EMP and...

Football Genius wrote:

EMP wrote:

Football Genius wrote:Most transfers are undisclosed... why would any business want to let their rivals know the terms... its entirely uncompetitive... most transfer fees are 'plucked from the sky'

No party benefits from public knowledge of a transfer fee... whether you accept it or not, most transfer fees are not what they are reported to be...

No I can accept what you say. the 10.5 was the only thing I could find. Most African transfers make thousands for African clubs and millions for the Europeans. Now young talent leaves cheap as well and in some cases are developed by European clubs as well. My comments on Zaki fee were in comparison to other known fees. He's 24 - not ancient and pretty good. £4m for such a striker in my opinion was dirt cheap.

I don't care whether you can accept whether what i say is right, its the truth... as clubs increasingly become privatised, the clubs right to publically release accurate information becomes minimal. That is fact... speculation drives the price as opposed to fact...

By the way, i'm not challenging you... that is simply the way it is.