French club OGC Nice has finally announced the arrival of Egyptian international Mohamed Abdelmonem from Al Ahly.

This puts to bed one of summer’s longest-running sagas in Egyptian football after Abdelmonem was waiting on his French visa to finalize the deal.

The deal is believed to have cost the French club €4.2 million, plus an additional €1 million in bonuses, with Nice owing the Reds 10% of the next deal as a sell-on clause.

On the player side, Abdelmonem has signed a four-year deal with Nice that will run until June 2028 as he will replace Jean Clair Todibo, who left to join West Ham.

Abdelmonem issued an emotional message on Instagram to Al Ahly fans before the official announcement.

The 25-year-old defender is the current second Egyptian in Ligue 1 alongside FC Nantes’ Mostafa Mohamed and the first-ever to play for Nice.

Overall, Abdelmonem is the ninth Egyptian to play in Ligue 1 after names like Ahmed Hossam Mido, Hosny Abd Rabo, and Ahmed Abou-Mosalem.

Nice finished last season fifth in Ligue 1 and secured Europa League football for this season; however, they had a slow start to the new campaign with just one point from the opening two games.

This now means that Abdelmonem will be available for the club’s next game against Angers, against which Nice will hope to claim their first win of the season.