African champions Al Ahly are reportedly closing in on another Palestinian striker, Omar Faraj, from AIK, according to Swedish reports.
Al Ahly are keen on replicating the success of the Palestinian striker Wessam Abou Ali, who also arrived from Sweden, IK Sirius, and has hit the ground running in Egypt.
So far, Abou Ali has 21 goal contributions (15 goals and six assists) in 22 games, helping the club win the CAF Champions League and closing on the Egyptian Premier League title.
But it looks like Abou Ali won’t be the only Palestinian at Al Ahly for long as now he is set to be joined by compatriot Omar Faraj from Swedish club AIK.
According to Swedish publication Expressen, Faraj had interest from Belgium and France, but he chose to sign for Al Ahly, who were very keen on completing the deal this summer.
The report added that the deal will cost Al Ahly 20 million SEK (€1.7 million), with the only thing remaining is for the player to fly to Egypt to undergo his medical and sign the contract.
Faraj, 22, born in Stockholm, Sweden, started his career at IF Brommapojkarna, before moving to Levante in Spain in 2021, playing mainly for the B team while featuring just once for the first team in a La Liga win over Rayo Vallecano in May 2022.
Searching for more playing time, Faraj returned to Sweden through top-tier club Degerfors IF on loan, before completing a permanent move to AIK in the winter of 2023 through AIK, scoring seven goals in 41 games since then.
This season, Faraj scored once and assisted twice in seven games for AIK in the Allsvenskan as the team currently sit 11th on the league table.
Born to parents of Palestinian descent, Faraj made his full international debut for Sweden in January 2023 in friendly wins against Finland and Iceland, before deciding to represent Palestine just last June.
Faraj received his first call-up to the Palestine national team for the World Cup qualifiers and featured against Lebanon and Australia to help his country reach the third round as well as the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
Al Ahly is in need of a striker following the departure of Anthony Modeste amid also rumours of Mahmoud Kahraba leaving this summer for Saudi cub Al-Kholood.