The 19-year-old Egypt international centre-back is being targeted by Premier League champions Manchester United and European champions Chelsea, according to Sky Sports, but the player took to Twitter to announce his main objective is to recover from injury in time for this summer’s U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

“I’m talking with some people over some offers, but everything will be opened after the World Cup. Just pray for me to be able to play in the World Cup,” Rabia tweeted in Arabic.

Borussia Dortmund, Schalke and Lille are also interested in Rabia, but the latter are the only club who’ve made a formal offer thus far.

French side Lille requested to have him on trial, but unfortunately Rami had suffered a knee injury during Ahly’s league win over Smouha and had to undergo surgery earlier this month.

SEM spokesman Mamdouh Eid confirmed to KingFut.com: “There is interest from many clubs, but at the moment we are looking forward to the [Under-20] World Cup and we’ll see from there.”

On the previous offer from Lille, Mamdouh added: “Lille wanted him on trial… they can watch him at the [U-20] World Cup.”

Rabia, who made his Al-Ahly debut at just 17, has recently thrived as a defensive midfielder since captain Hossam Ghaly picked up an ACL injury during the Club World Cup in Japan.

The versatile defender has scored four goals for both club and country in all competitions so far this season, including goals for Al-Ahly in the CAF Super Cup and Egyptian Premier League, the senior national team’s lone goal in their 3-1 friendly loss to Qatar, where he played at right-back, and the winner against African Youth Championship hosts Algeria to book the Young Pharaohs’ progression to this summer’s U-20 World Cup.

The Ahly starlet, who turns 20 next week, already has five full caps for Egypt and also captained the U-20 side that went on to win the African Championship for the first time since 2003.

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Egypt international Adam El-Abd, who has yet to put pen-to-paper, was offered a new one-year contract at Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday, as his current contract is set to expire in June 2013.

Last week, El-Abd’s Brighton were eliminated from the Championship play-offs following a 2-0 loss at home to rivals Crystal Palace, ending their hopes of achieving promotion to the Barclay’s Premier League this season.

The first of the two legs was held at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park where a 0-0 draw was played out. Brighton were the better of the two sides but the Seagulls failed to take their chances to put the game to bed.

The Seagulls then hosted Crystal Palace at the AMEX stadium as favourites with their home crowd cheering them on, and since the away goal rule was not to be used, it was all in Brighton’s hands. However, two second half goals from Manchester United-bound Wilfred Zaha sends Crystal Palace to Wembley to face Watford in the play-off final on May 27.

Adam El-Abd was an unused substitute for both of the games, despite playing a crucial role at centre-back during the majority of the season for Brighton.

To add to Brighton’s woes, manager Gus Poyet has been suspended along with two members of his coaching staff after he publicly made comments about the club’s ambitions and his future at the club.

28-year-old Adam is expected to feature in Egypt’s World Cup qualifers next month against Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Egypt secured maximum nine points from their first three games, which keeps them on track to qualify for the final round of World Cup qualifying, where they will play a two-legged encounter against one of the 10 groups’ leaders for a place at next year’s finals in Brazil.

Ahmad Yousef: Follow @EgyptianPlayers

At 30 years old, it’s now or never for Mido to make a comeback. It appears he’s choosing now.

One of Egypt’s most accomplished football exports has taken to Twitter to announce his plans to get back into shape. Ahmed Hossam, more affectionately known as Mido, recently posted several tweets about his new diet, which includes everything from fresh fruits and salads, to grilled chicken and fish.

Mido has officially been without a club since January 31 of this year, but hinted at resuming some light training later this month. I tweeted him back days later to wish him well and he confirmed to me that he’ll begin the physical part of his regimen “next week.” While he hasn’t specifically mentioned a return to football, one can infer from his drive to be fit that, that might be one of his goals.

He’s sarcastically been using the hashtag ‘Kersh Mido’ with each diet-related post. Critical fans previously used it to make fun of his weight on Twitter. It roughly translates to “Mido’s belly” or “Mido’s paunch.” It might as well translate to “Mido’s motivation” judging by his constructive use.

Mido hasn’t completely been idle since January. He’s dabbled in some TV show hosting, including “El Aalamy,” currently airing in its second season on Al-Hayat 2, and “Digital Mido,” found on Egyptian football portal FilGoal. Though he seems comfortable in front of the camera and appears set for a long TV career when he decides to hang-up his boots, at just 30 years old, the potential is there for a few more years of scoring goals first.

With Egypt off to a perfect start in 2014 World Cup qualifying, next summer’s finals in Brazil may be his last chance to check FIFA’s showpiece event off of his list of career achievements. In fact, Mido recently interviewed Egyptian national team boss Bob Bradley for his TV show. The two seemed to strike a repoire, and Mido seems to have plenty of respect for the former U.S. national team manager, telling me via Twitter that he thought the American was a “top man.” Perhaps some of the off-camera conversation offered a bit of incentive as well? To be a fly on that wall…

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El-Shorta 3-0 Al-Ittihad of Alexandria

Al-Ittihad’s terrible season continues with another defeat against third placed El-Shorta. Said Kamal scored his fifth goal of the campaign from a free-kick in a tight angle, while Ali Rabo and Abdullah Farouk sealed the win for El-Shorta to bounce them back to third place.

Misr El-Maqassa 0-1 Wadi Degla

Hany Ramzy’s Wadi Degla pulled of their second consecutive win in their efforts to avoid relegation this season, taking the three points over Hossam Hassan’s Misr El-Maqassa. The Egyptian legend and former Zamalek coach resigned from his post at El-Maqassa after the match, only to have his resignation turned down by the board. Gaber Salem scored the match’s only goal in the 65th minute.

Al-Ahly 2-1 Haras El-Hodood

With this win over Haras El-Hodood Al-Ahly have secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Egyptian Premier League. Walid Soliman scored from the spot in the 12th minute while former Zamalek striker Sherif Ashraf scored a late equalizer only to be left disappointed following young centre-back Saad Samir’s late header to secure the champions’ spot in the semi-finals.

Arab Contractors 0-1 Zamalek

Zamalek were able to put an end to the Mountain Wolves’ decent run of form and bounce back from last week’s defeat in what was quite an entertaining match. Who other than Abdoulaye Cisse could have scored for the Whites? The striker from Burkina Faso added another to his tally with a late header to secure a scrappy win for the White Knights. The former Montpellier striker has really been in fine form this season since his summer move from Al-Masry, scoring nine goals, five in his last four games. Zamalek have now also booked their spot in the Egyptian Premier League semi-finals.

Petrojet 1-3 Ismaily

The Dervishes pulled off an impressive win over mid-table Petrojet to go eight points clear over third place Shorta. Ghanaian John Antwi scored along with goals from Libya-bound Omar Gamal and former Egypt international Mohamed Homos. The promising Marwan Mohsen scored the only goal for the Egyptian Petrol Company’s side.

El-Gouna 0-1 Smouha

El-Gouna lost yet again as Shawky Gharib’s Smouha picked up the vital three points to keep their semi-final hopes alive. Ibrahim Abdel-Khalik scored the only goal for Smouha.

ENPPI 1-0 Telephonat Beni Suef

ENPPI pulled of a scrappy win over Beni Suef as the Petroleum club seek to secure second place to book their spot in the league’s semi-finals. Egypt U-20 star Mahmoud Abdel-Moneim ’Kahraba’ scored a nicely chipped goal for Tarek El-Ashry’s side.

El-Dakhleya 0-0 Tala’a Al-Gaish

El-Gaish lost third place to El-Shorta after just one week with a draw on Wednesday with relegation strugglers El-Dakhleya.

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Profile:

Ahmed Mohsen is a young Egyptian centre-back who captains Wadi Degla’s U16 side. Mohsen, who was born in 1997, is one of the most promising players at Degla with defensive abilities far beyond players at his age. The young Egyptian defender, who has won numerous certificates with Wadi Degla in association with Arsenal, traveled to Belgium and Holland last April to undergo trials abroad. In Aaslt, Belgium, Mohsen trained with the reserves of Egyptian-owned Lierse SK before traveling with them to Hoofddorp, Holland, where he played a match against a third division side. Mohsen is a very versatile player at his age, as he can also play as a right-back or even a central midfielder.

Summary of Skills:

• Fine, powerful headers.
• Times interceptions well.
• Decent pace.
• Good vision.
• Versatility.

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28-year-old Mohamed Nagy ‘Gedo’, who has been suffering from a persistent foot injury that kept him out of most of the second half of his six-month spell at Hull City, is set to return to home to start a rehabilitation programme with the Cairo giants.

After a brilliant start to life at the KC Stadium, scoring five goals in his first six games, things really started to slow down for Gedo; clearly, something was physically wrong. The Egyptian striker aggravated a an old foot injury with Hull before featuring in a league clash against Bristol City last month to further worsen the problem, despite Al-Ahly club doctor Ehab Ali warning the club he should be rested for two months.

In an interview with Ahly’s satellite channel, Hull chairman Assem Allam promised to cover the expenses of the Egypt forward’s surgery, but denied that his club’s management are to blame for the long-term injury.

“There is no football manager in England, whether Steve Bruce or anyone else, who dares or accepts to field a player with an injury… Even if it is minor,” the Tigers’ Egyptian owner said.

“Anyway, Gedo was very worried to return to Egypt for treatment and I promised him that even if his surgery cost millions, he won’t leave here unless he is 100% fit.”

After consultation from top doctors he under went the operation on Monday in the UK where he was operated on by one of the top foot doctors in the world.

Gedo was very pleased following the operation and said it went fantastically well. He tweeted: “Elhamdullah (thank God) feeling very relieved after the operation… looking forward to coming back stronger than ever inshallah (if God wills).”

The Egypt international is expected to make a full recovery and should start fitness training by the beginning of preseason, but the Cairo giants announced he’s set to return to Ahly within two weeks, after the end of his six-month loan with the Tigers.

“Gedo will return to Cairo after two weeks following a successful foot operation,” Ahly said in a statement on its official website on Tuesday.

“The player departed the hospital in England and will start a rehabilitation programme until leaving for Egypt,” the statement concluded.

Ahmad Yousef: Follow @EgyptianPlayers

Saleh Gomaa claims Jürgen Klopp wants him to be a new Mohamed Zidan, after the young Egypt international completed his trial with Borussia Dortmund last week.

19-year-old Saleh Gomaa, who won the MVP at the 2013 African U-20 Championship in Algeria, has been on two consecutive one-week trials in Europe this month with Anderlecht and Dortmund, ahead of a potential summer transfer from Egyptian side ENPPI.

Gomaa told FilGoal about his time in Germany, with Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp wanting the young central midfielder to be a ‘New Zidan’, referring to the Egypt international who spent four years at the Westfalenstadion.

“Now I’m done with trials and I will return to Egypt to join the U-20 national team,” Gomaa said.

“The Anderlecht trial went well but now my agent is speaking with the club. I know little about the talks so far.

“Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp will have the final say on whether I will be with them or not…this will be determined by Friday.

“I was impressed by Dortmund really. Coach Klopp told me he wants me to be a new Zidan!

“I saw the team training with determination, passion and commitment in order to win the Champions League. That’s why I will be supporting Dortmund in the final.”

The Egyptian starlet, who is expected to be the heart of the Young Pharaohs’ midfield at this summer’s U-20 World Cup in Turkey, said after his trial with Anderlecht: “if both clubs made offers for me, I will choose Dortmund of course.”

ENPPI value the young Egypt international at €2 million, but chairman Mohamed Badr admitted he would not stand in the way of a move abroad for Gomaa, who made his debut for the Petroleum club in 2010, aged just 17.

The Bundesliga side are also reportedly targeting Ajax’s in-demand midfielder Christian Eriksen as a potential replacement for Bayern Munich-bound Mario Götze.

Gomaa also previously claimed to have a trial offer from Manchester United, while Torino, Sevilla and Benfica are also said to be keen on signing the gem of the Petroleum club, after catching the attention of their scouts at the African youth tournament in Algeria.

Dortmund, who recently lost the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich, will clash again with the German giants in the UEFA Champions League final on May 25.

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After undergoing a three-week trial with Legia Warsaw in March, 19-year-old Egyptian Mohamed Essam has now officially joined the Polish side on loan until the end of the season.

The Wadi Degla attacking midfielder, who made his Egyptian Premier League debut this season, flew back to Egypt following his trial to renew his visa and complete additional paperwork before returning to Poland on May 3rd.

Essam is expected to take part in an international tournament next week with Legia Warsaw, who are currently two points clear of Lech Poznań at the top of Poland’s top professional league, the T-Mobile Ekstraklasa.

Despite there only being four rounds left of the Ekstraklasa this season, Legia have the option to complete a permanent deal for Essam this summer from relegation-threatened Wadi Degla, for an undisclosed fee.

On the international stage, Essam has scored one goal in the four matches he’s played with the Egypt U-20 national team, but was not apart of the squad that recently won the African Youth Championship in Algeria.

- thanks to Islam Issa and Ahmed Matar

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With Egypt cruising in their World Cup qualifying campaign thus far, Hosam El-Aker previews the final round of Africa’s road to Brazil on his debut for King Fut.

With just three matches to go in the group phase of the African zone’s qualifiers for  World Cup 2014, Egypt finds itself in the somewhat unfamiliar position of not just being “alive” in the quest to reach the finals, but actually in pole position. For the first time in years, supporters of the Pharaohs have had the luxury of keeping their calculators in their pockets.

No, Egypt hasn’t quite clinched a spot in the final round of qualifying – a home-and-away tussle with one last opponent for a trip to Brazil – but they could do so as early as June 9 when they take on Zimbabwe in Harare. Either way, they currently control their own destiny, but an away win next month (extremely difficult to achieve in Africa, granted) coupled with a Guinea loss or tie at home against Mozambique and the Pharaohs’ last two group matches become irrelevant. Or do they? That all depends on what the competition’s organizing committee decides to do with the final round of qualifying.

The format for the final phase is known. The ten winners from the group stage will be paired up to face one another home-and-away, with the five aggregate winners qualifying for Brazil 2014. What is unknown however is just how these 10 group winners will be paired. So far, FIFA has only told us that the procedure for this final round of qualifying “will be confirmed by the end of Round Two (group stage).” Considering the final group matches are in September, this means we technically might not know until then, though history tells us an announcement will probably come before that.

All sorts of conjecture has floated around cafes, websites, message boards and everywhere else African football is discussed as to what the exact procedure will be. One possibility is that the 10 teams will be drawn at random, with no attention paid to where they stand in FIFA’s monthly world rankings. Though the illogical is sometimes the norm in African football, this idea seems unlikely as it would risk pitting Africa’s highest ranked teams against one another. The region’s lowest ranked group winners could also end up being paired, guaranteeing that at least one of Africa’s highest ranked sides would fail to reach Brazil and that one or more of its lowest ranked teams would qualify; a less than ideal scenario.

The more likely modus operandi would see the 10 group winners placed into two pots of five, one with the highest ranked teams and the other with the lowest ranked teams. Each of the five matchups would include a team from each pot. This would guarantee that the five highest ranked group winners have a chance to comprise Africa’s five slots at the World Cup. In this scenario, FIFA would likely use its September rankings to determine the pots.

If this second proposed procedure is indeed chosen, it would render Egypt’s remaining group phase matches vitally important regardless of whether they’ve already clinched the group summit. This is because the results of those matches will play a significant role in where Egypt is ranked come September. If Egypt can end up among the five highest ranked group winners, their final round pairing would theoretically be easier, as it would be against one of the five lowest ranked group winners.

And now to the fun part. We obviously have no idea who will win the 10 groups or where those group winners will be ranked come September, but that doesn’t mean we can’t ponder the possibilities. It sure as heck beats what Egypt supporters are used to doing at this point… solving trigonomic equations to determine if the team is still even alive.

Going by the just-released May edition of the FIFA World Rankings, here’s what the pots would look like as things stand at the half-way mark in group play:

Pot 1 – Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Algeria, Tunisia, Zambia

Pot 2 – Cameroon, Egypt, Senegal, Congo, Ethiopia

As of this moment, Egypt is well-entrenched in Pot 2. Even if Mali overtakes Algeria and Ghana overtakes Zambia in their respective groups, Egypt would remain in the lesser of the two pots. Perhaps Egypt’s shortest path to Pot 1 would be to jump 22 places in the FIFA World Ranking to leapfrog Zambia, who would have to hold on and win their group over Ghana. Egypt would also have to finish with a higher ranking than the Group I winner (most likely either Cameroon or Libya, both of whom are currently ranked just ahead of Egypt). This is virtually impossible, as Zambia holding on to win its group would mean that they’re getting results, and thus not plummeting down the rankings. And if Ghana wins the group, they’re too far ahead in the rankings for Egypt to catch up by September.

The other possibility – however unlikely it may seem – would be for Egypt (68^th) to pass Cameroon (62^nd) in the rankings (assuming they hold on to win Group I) and for Malawi (currently trailing Nigeria on goal difference) to win Group F. If Egypt wins its group, this scenario would place them 5^th among group winners, putting them in Pot 1.

Given these realities, it’s safe to assume that should Egypt win its group, it’s all but certain that they’ll end up in Pot 2. If the current group leaders hold on to first place, this would mean Egypt has a 40% chance of renewing pleasantries with one of its North African rivals – Algeria or Tunisia – as both are in Pot 1. And if they don’t draw one of their northern neighbors, top-ranked Ivory Coast, African champions Nigeria, and Zambia – who gave Egypt fits in a 2010 World Cup qualifier in Cairo – would be waiting in the wings. If it’s none of those five teams, it would likely be either Mali or Ghana. None of the possibilities are too appealing.

So, anyone holding out hope that Egypt might face an “easier” (i.e. lower ranked) proposition like Ethiopia – currently leading Group A – can stop dreaming right about… now. Given Egypt’s history of selective complacency, perhaps it’ll be beneficial facing a bigger name anyway. The Pharaohs have a knack for surprising with poor performances against presumably weaker teams, and surprisingly stellar performances against stronger sides.

No matter how you slice the makarona bel bashamel, qualifying for the World Cup will take Egypt’s top effort, regardless of the opponent. There are very few minnows left in African football, and for whoever the 10 group winners end up being, there will have been a reason for it… they’re good teams.

Should Egypt win Group G, which of their seven most likely opponents (Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Algeria, Tunisia, Zambia, Ghana, Mali) would you rather face in the final round of qualifying and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Hegazy, who has been out of the Fiorentina squad since rupturing his knee ligament last December, came on for the Viola as a substitute in the 72nd minute, replacing Stefan Savic.

Veteran Italy striker Luca Toni scored the only goal of the game just before half-time to guarantee Fiorentina’s top-four finish in the Serie A, going seven points clear of fifth-placed Udinese.

Hegazy only made his full debut a week before his injury in December, where he scored in the Coppa Italia against Juve Stabia.

Speaking to Goal.com last week, Hegazy said: “It was the most difficult experience I’ve ever had. It’s very difficult to stay away from pitch all this time, especially when you are still at the very beginning of your career in Europe and making good progress towards a consistent place in the starting XI.”

“I have many dreams, but right now I am just concentrating on getting back to full fitness and returning to the pitch stronger than ever. I want to participate in the remaining matches this season with Fiorentina and contribute to achieving our goal of qualifying for next term’s Champions League or Europa League.”

Hegazy revealed his hopes of a recall to the Egypt squad once he has regained full fitness, as Bob Bradley’s squad look to secure qualification for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

“Right now, the Egypt national team are on the right path under the guidance of coach Bob Bradley,” he stated. “If they manage to keep on like that, it will be a matter of time before Egypt can book their ticket to Brazil.

“[A recall] depends on Mr. Bradley and his staff, who have the right to choose me or not. For me, it’s always an honour to join my national team and I’ll try to be fit as soon as possible if Egypt need my efforts.”