Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Egyptian International Winger Shikabala Joins Greek Apollon Smyrni on a One-Year Loan From Zamalek

This move follows a dispute between the winger and Zamalek chairman Mortada Mansour.

Staff Writer

Egyptian International Winger Shikabala Joins Greek Apollon Smyrni on a One-Year Loan From Zamalek

Egyptian international winger and reputed “bad boy” Shikabala is joining Greek club Apollon Smyrni on a season-long loan from Zamalek, as per an announcement by the club on Instagram. 

"Born on March 5, 1986, he is a physically strong player and has played for Zamalek, PAOK, Basel, Sporting Lisbon, Ismaily and Al Raad. He was signed on loan from Zamalek", they announced.

Shikabala had a decent last season in Saudi Arabia, where he scored 9 goals and gave 4 assists in 21 appearances for Al Raed.  

This summer, he fell out with Zamalek Chairman Mortada Mansour, a rather controversial and outspoken character himself, who criticised the winger for not returning to club duty on time following a World Cup he made no appearances in. This was not the first time that Mansour and Shikabala bump heads; in February of 2017, Mido had to intervene in a conflict between the two as Shikabala was not selected for a match against Al Ahly in the Super Cup.  

The speedy winger, who made his debut with Zamalek in 2001 at the age of 16 is widely known in Egypt as a wasted talent - an incredibly gifted winger whose disciplinary problems and personal troubles haven’t allowed his career to catapult to bigger heights, both for national team and club football. In September 2014, while still under contract at Sporting Lisbon, Shikabala left for international duty with Egypt and never returned to Portugal, which lead to his salary being frozen and car confiscated due to lack of payments.

The Greek Super League has among its ranks Amr Warda, Amr Kouka, and former Zamalek teammate Basem Morsi, who play for PAOK, Olympiacos, and AEL respectively. Apollon Smyrnis didn’t exactly have a stellar season last year, barely avoiding relegation after placing 14th in the Greek Super League.

Main image from Twitter