Juan Bezerra 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Riyad Mahrez, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Gaber 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zamalek, another week without a signature from Ahmed Magdy.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ahmed Jafeli signs something — a contract at Zamalek or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Nasser Mansi
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Juan Bezerra’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zamalek.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Juan Bezerra was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.83. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zamalek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The deal that would have taken Ahmed Khodary to Ismaily has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Zamalek with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Juan Bezerra was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.95. 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Juan Bezerra 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zamalek will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A brace, and Oday Dabbagh takes the afternoon — 8.29
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Oday Dabbagh provided it, and the 8.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Zamalek, and it is not being withdrawn.
Juan Bezerra 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zamalek and Masr El Makasa, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The name of Ahmed Khodary has come up in conversations Zamalek were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
3‑3, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Shehata 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamalek can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oday Dabbagh. 3‑2 against Smouha, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.
“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 Zamalek, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from El Masry for Ahmed Khodary 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.
Juan Bezerra 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.
The name of Ahmed Jafeli has come up in conversations Zamalek were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Gaber 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Zamalek
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.
The phone has started ringing about Ahmed Khodary again, and this time the name on the line is El Dakhleya. Zamalek are listening politely and promising nothing.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Emad Elneny has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamalek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Zamalek will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Still no offer on the table, and Seifeddine Jaziri’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Juan Bezerra 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Gaber 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.