Essam Siraj El-Din, Head of the Deals Sector at Al-Ahly Club, revealed behind-the-scenes details about the beginning of his career within the Red Fortress, highlighting the role several figures played in giving him the opportunity to work in the youth sector before he assumed various administrative and commercial positions within the club.
Essam Siraj El-Din stated in interviews on Al-Ahly TV: "Abdel Aziz Abdel Shafi gave me the greatest opportunity in the youth sector at Al-Ahly Club, until I became the Director of Public Relations and Marketing for this sector. At that time, Captain Hassan Hamdy was the club's president. This marked my start in the sector, after which I became the Commercial Director and then the Contracts Manager."
Siraj El-Din also spoke about his relationship with Kamal Darwish, former president of Zamalek Club, and Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports, saying: "Kamal Darwish supervised my academic research, and Dr. Ashraf Sobhy was alongside him. Later, I became the Assistant Minister of Youth for Marketing and Investment. We worked on youth centers with Ashraf Sobhy after he invited me to join him at the ministry, achieving significant financial figures over four or five years, reaching 4 billion Egyptian pounds."
Details of Al-Ahly's Sales
The Contracts Manager at Al-Ahly addressed his first tenure within the club, noting the achievement of substantial financial returns from selling several players.
He explained: "During my first term at Al-Ahly Club, we achieved numerous sales. We sold Ivona for $10 million at a time when the dollar exchange rate was rising, marking the highest return from selling a player in the history of Egyptian football."
He added: "There were also other financial returns we worked on, including the sales of Ahmed Hegazi, Ramadan Sobhi, and Trezeguet to Anderlecht in Belgium."
The Ali Maaloul Deal
Siraj El-Din revealed behind-the-scenes details about signing the Tunisian player Ali Maaloul, confirming that the deal was unusual compared to typical practices at Al-Ahly Club.
He said: "Ali Maaloul was one of the most prominent players I worked on signing, representing a significant addition for me. However, he connected deeply with the fans. His contract included a release clause, and it is not Al-Ahly's usual practice to pay release clauses to sign any player, but with Ali Maaloul, we made an exception."
Mohamed El-Shenawy as the First Signing
Siraj El-Din noted that Mohamed El-Shenawy was the first player he signed during his tenure at Al-Ahly Club, stating: "The first deal I negotiated at Al-Ahly was for Mohamed El-Shenawy. The board of directors under Petrojet showed flexibility and smoothness in finalizing the contract with the player."
The Head of the Deals Sector at Al-Ahly discussed the mechanism for selecting players within the club, explaining that the signing process begins through a specialized committee responsible for scouting talents and outstanding players.
He said: "Typically, there is a scouting committee working to discover talents in the domestic league and globally. We collaborate with them to sign players. We operate according to a vision set by Sayed Abdel Hafeez and Yassin Mansour, and ultimately report back to Captain Mahmoud El-Khatib."
Siraj El-Din concluded his remarks by revealing the nature of his role once a target player is identified, saying: "When the technical director requests to sign a player for a specific position, we recommend some players we have previously observed. After he selects the player he wants, my role begins. This role is economic and practical to finalize the deal. I must know the price range of the player, provide my economic opinion, but ultimately, the decision rests with the technical director."
