Al Ahly head of recruitment Essam Serag has confirmed that Souleymane Coulibaly asked to return to the Red Devils and settle his dispute with the club.

The 22-year-old forward traveled to England without informing the club late in May, before issuing a controversial statement alleging that he departed the Red Castle following ill treatment from his teammates, claiming he was “treated like a slave”.

Following his departure, Full Contact agency, representatives of Coulibaly, terminating their contract with the Ivorian player, saying they won’t be able to discuss the dispute between the player and Al Ahly due to “ongoing duties of client confidentiality”.

In response to the player’s departure, the Red Castle lodged a complaint to FIFA against him in order to preserve the club’s rights.

“We are suing the player at FIFA. We have presented all the documents related to the player’s case and our stance is 100% sound and lawful, and the proof is that the player could not move to any new club until now,” Serag told a local radio station.

“The player offered to return to Al Ahly a while ago but the board turned his request down and affirmed he has no place inside the club,” he added.