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The Egyptian sports media is renowned for being a big business, but whether in the spotlight or not, there have been some very absurd transfer rumors in the past. The fine folks over at KingFut have brought you seven of the most surreal:

1. Ronaldinho to Zamalek

This has to be the biggest joke in the history of the Egyptian sports. Why? Because Zamalek’s president, and well-known lawyer Mortada Mansour actually confirmed that on TV! He does say a lot of weird things but this has to be at the top there with his best quotes. He later joked about it, asking the presenter if he wants to see him sign Barack Obama…

Of course, his agent and brother Assis Moreira laughed Mortada’s talk away.

See Mortada’s comments here.

2. Ronaldinho to Al Ahly

The Brazilian magician was included in the Selecao’s squad that played in the Under-17 World Championship in Egypt, where he caught the eye of many European clubs.

But of course as Egyptians, we wanted to have a piece of the pie and Adly El-Qi’ey confirmed that he was interested in signing Ronaldinho, and actually sent a fax to his club Gremio to inquire about the player, with the club confirming that he will cost them 15 million USD. The late Saleh Selim then told Adly to “dream on”. Literally.

Here’s a picture of Ronaldinho enjoying a cold cup of 2asab in 1997.

3. Half of Egypt to Arsenal

Headlines read: “Microbus Arsenal, La7za mn fadlak”. There seems to be some kind of weird connection between the Gunners and Egyptian players over the years. Following the 2006 African Cup of Nations which Egypt won, Essam El-Hadary & Mohamed Shawky were linked to a move to the club. Recently we’ve seen former Egyptian U-23 international Islam Ramadan ‘Milo’ and Ramadan Sobhy being linked to the Gunners too.

But it all wasn’t a joke when it came to Ahmed Fathi, who actually had a trial at Arsenal before deciding to move to Qatar’s Umm $alal in the summer of 2014.

Read more about Fathi’s trial at Arsenal here.

4. Amr Zaky to Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool

On July 22, 2008, Egyptian striker Amr Zaky completed his move to English Premier League minnows Wigan Athletic, and he came in with a BANG. With 7 goals in his first 8 EPL games, the headlines read: Real Madrid attempt to trump for Amr Zaky. Rafa Benitez admits interest in Amr Zaki [sic]. The Guardian: Bulldozer at the top of the Pyramid.

That was in January 2009. In April 2009, Zaky traveled to Egypt for a World Cup qualifier and disappeared, with Wigan boss and former Manchester United captain Steve Bruce labeling him as “the worst professional he has ever worked with” before they terminated his loan. Well done, Amr.

READ: Why have so many Egyptians failed in Europe? Read more here.

5. Sayed Abdel-Hafiz to Real Madrid

Los Blancos fans still dread the day they failed to sign Al Ahly legend and ex-captain Abdel-Hafiz to play alongside Claude Makelele and Santiago Solari in midfield. Truly unstoppable. However, there was only one problem: Madrid never presented the €2 million offer as reported by Al-Akhbar, but rather it was Real Madrid Castilla – the B team. One cannot imagine what the reporter was smoking back then. Then again, Abdelhafiz was a really good player, making the Castilla offer look ridiculous.

6. Mahamdou Diarra to Zamalek

News emerged around 2011 that ex-Real Madrid man Diarra could be making a move to the White Castle. Of course, needless to say, it didn’t work out. Let me remind you that this is a player who had a €40 million price tag in 2006, and eventually joined Real Madrid for a staggering €26 million. Just to spice things up a bit, a certain website claimed that during a phone call with the Malian, he stated that he’d be willing to join Zamalek, who were back then in search for sponsors and basically money-deprived.

7. Asamoah Gyan to Zamalek

Mortada Mansour’s reign as Zamalek president has brought some ridiculous transfer rumours and this one emerged around late-May 2015. Ok, Gyan is definitely not the player he was four/five years ago, but rumours of him signing for the club are absolutely surreal when you bear in mind that his net profit last year was a staggering $16 million dollars at Emirati club Al Ain, i.e. around 112 million EGP. Guess we’ll never see a mighty attacking triumvirate of Gyan, Khaled Kamar, and Bassem Morsi. What a shame.

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