Al Ahly have announced the signing of Moroccan left-back Yahia Attiyat Allah from Russian club FC Sochi on a season-long loan with an option buy.
The Reds have been in the search for a new left-back following the injury of aging Ali Maaloul during the CAF Champions League final against Esperance.
Al Ahly coach Marcel Koller opted to use right-back Karim Fouad on the left side to fill in the void left by Maaloul during the latter stages of the season as Egypt U23 international Karim El-Debes didn’t convince him.
While it was believed Al Ahly would go for Hassania Agadir’s left-back Jamal Ech-Chamakh, the club surprisingly announced the signing of Yahia Attiyat Allah, whose agent revealed a few days ago that the negotiations between both parties have ended.
The 29-year-old arrived in Cairo on Friday night to undergo his medical and the club announced the deal just a few hours later after reaching a deal with both the player and his Russian club.
The deal will see Attiyat Allah remain in Cairo until the end of the 2024/25 season; however, the African champions have an option to make the deal permanent.
Al Ahly fans are no strangers to Attiyat Allah, who played five times against the Reds during his time at Wydad Casablanca, including in the 2022 and 2023 CAF Champions finals, scoring in the latter, which the Egyptians managed to win in the end.
Attiyat Allah joined Sochi just last February from Wydad Casablanca for only €500,000 as his deal with the Moroccan was set to expire by the end of the current season.
During his stay in Russia, the left-back made 11 appearances in which he scored once and assisted three times as the club suffered relegation to the second division.
This wasn’t the player’s first stint in Europe, having also played for Greek club Volos NPS during the 2019/2020 season, before joining Wydad Casablanca in January of 2020.
He now becomes the second Moroccan player in the Al Ahly squad alongside compatriot Reda Slim, who has helped the club win three trophies in his debut season.
Overall, Attiyat Allah also becomes the fourth Moroccan to represent Al Ahly in its history after Slim, Walid Azaro, and Badr Benoun.
Additionally, Attiyat Allah has represented Morocco on 22 occasions and was part of their squad which made history by finishing fourth in the 2022 World Cup.
Attiyat Allah was the only domestic-based player to play for Morocco in Qatar, assisting the winner against Portugal during the quarter-finals.