Nantes seeks to rebuild itself step by step after its relegation last season to the French second division, and has signed coach Michel Der Zakarian to help correct the course.
French "Foot Mercato" reported that Nantes' new coach, who took charge of the team in mid-June last, is facing a major crisis with the absence of the Egyptian Mustafa Mohamed, aged 28, from training.
Mustafa Mohamed has stopped communicating with his new coach and his club Nantes over the past period, in addition to not attending training.
Mustafa Mohamed is provoking the anger of Nantes' coach, who commented after the clean 3-0 win over one of France's third-division teams, Fleury, last week: "I have never seen anything like this before".
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He added: "We see in football these days many things that have no connection to logic. He decided to act this way and we will see what happens when he returns".
Nantes' coach returned to clarify again yesterday, Thursday: "We call him but sometimes he does not answer, the club is the one that calls, I did not call him personally, sometimes there is no response at all, we are not paying him a salary and the matter simply boils down to that, he does not want to come to train, the fault lies on his shoulders, not on us, and if he does not want to come and train, then he can stay at home".
Mustafa Mohamed had preferred to stay away from the spotlight and social media after being excluded from Egypt's World Cup squad, and no reaction or indication has been issued from him despite Nantes' attempts to contact him.
Nantes' management, which has been in charge since 2007, has never witnessed this precedent before, and "L'Équipe" newspaper confirmed that they have notified Mustafa Mohamed through daily letters that he will not receive his salary.
Mustafa Mohamed is raising suspicions of hidden intentions at Nantes, and the Egyptian holds a contract until 2027, and no sale value has been set for the Egyptian striker who scored 29 goals and provided 8 assists in 136 matches.
Nantes plans for Mustafa Mohamed to drop down to play with the reserve team that competes in the fourth division upon his return, and they will not allow him to leave in a free transfer, and the club's management has not received any offers regarding him so far, and if that happens, they hope to receive financial compensation.
