He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Masr El Makasa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Fathi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Amr Elneny trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Omar Fayed was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I watch every Masr El Makasa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Police Union runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A mark of 7.39, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Warda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ramadan El Wensh chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mahmoud Warda signs something — a contract at Masr El Makasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutPrecious Agwu knocks on the manager's door
Omar Fayed and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to El Dakhleya to sit and watch. I want to come back to Masr El Makasa and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ramadan El Wensh to a room that had heard them before.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Moaz Ateya trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.22 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ramadan Hegazi. 1‑0 against Haras El Hodoud, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Fathi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Ramadan El Wensh could afford to be generous.
Ahmed Sobhi is 18, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
In brief
The dugoutMoaz Ateya unhappy with how he is being used
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.32 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mostafa Marwan has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and El Masry were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Mostafa Marwan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Minute 91, against Al Gaish, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Mostafa Marwan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It needed Ali Mohsen to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Al Gaish, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Warda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Masr El Makasa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Racing Genk, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Omar Fayed was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Masr El Makasa will try again when the window opens; Smouha may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Fathi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Police Union to sit and watch. I want to come back to Masr El Makasa and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Ramadan El Wensh to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mahmoud Warda
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Masr El Makasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Masr El Makasa have done the hard part with Sporting CP, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Mahmoud Warda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mostafa Marwan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Red Bull Salzburg have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 18 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Mostafa Marwan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Masr El Makasa offered $10.0K; Aswan said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Fathi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Wadi Degla for Mahmoud Warda was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $8.0K — a club that wants Mohamed Bendary enough to be asked twice.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Masr El Makasa have gone to ENPPI with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Masr El Makasa have gone to Aswan with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Masr El Makasa
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zamalek have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Zamalek arrived with $2.3M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Emad Tarek has gone, the accounts have $2.3M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Moaz Ateya is living that version at Masr El Makasa, and it tends to show in the first month.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Masr El Makasa have done the hard part with Frosinone, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Ahly is saying, and nobody at Masr El Makasa is enjoying the guessing.
Mahmoud Warda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mostafa Marwan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emad Tarek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ramadan Hegazi and Masr El Makasa agree another 2 years.
The phone has started ringing about Ahmed Zizo again, and this time the name on the line is Aswan. Masr El Makasa are listening politely and promising nothing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emad Tarek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Masr El Makasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Mostafa Marwan has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Walid El Shenawy