Zamalek close in on Tunisia fullback Mathlouthi

15 Juin 2020

Cairo, Egypt, June 15 (Infosplusgabon) - Egyptian soccer giants, Zamalek, are close to signing Tunisia fullback, Hamza Mathlouthi, from Club Sfaxien as both sides have already reached a final agreement over the deal, according to the Tunisian outfit.

"Hamza Mathlouthi will be at Zamalek next season," Moez Mestiri, a Sfaxien official, told a local Tunisian radio station, IFM, on Sunday. "They offered him a lucrative deal and I think that another scenario would be unlikely."

Mestiri said that Mathlouthi will ply his trade at Sfaxien until the end of the the season. The Tunisian League is set to resume in August while the fate of the Egyptian league remains unclear.

Mathlouthi spent four seasons at Sfaxien after joining them from Club Bizertin in the summer of 2016.

The 28-year-old's contract with Sfaxien expires at the end of June 2020. He will join Zamalek as a free agent.

The international fullback, who has 28 caps for Tunisia, has been a regular starter with Sfaxien, having scored twice and created three assists in all competitions so far this season.

Zamalek have been on the lookout for a right-back since fullback Hamdi Nagguez unilaterally terminated his contract with the Cairo giants in January.

Meanwhile, Zamalek has renewed the contract of French coach Patrice Carteron, a former coach at Ahly and Raja Casablanca of Morocco, who helped Zamalek snatch the African Super Cup and Egyptian Super Cup titles and reach the African Champions League semi-finals.

Zamalek announced on Saturday that Carteron will remain in his post with the team for another season.

“We wish our coach good luck in winning more titles,” the club said in a short statement without disclosing further details.

Carteron took charge of the Whites last December after the departure of Serbian coach Micho following a series of poor results, and he was due to leave after the end of this season.

In May, the Cairo giants announced that they had reached an agreement with the 49-year-old tactician despite the ongoing suspension of all football activities in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ahead of the current league suspension, Zamalek are in fourth place on the table with 28 points from 16 matches, 21 points behind leaders Ahly, who played one match more.

Carteron has expressed his pleasure with the new deal.

"I am happy and proud of continuing with Zamalek as well as being a technical manager of the Whites' players," Carteron told the club's television channel.

"Zamalek players are part of a big team with great supporters, those fans enjoyed great moments when we won two titles and we want to continue with the same strength," the Zamalek coach said.

"I promise Zamalek fans to do my best to achieve more trophies," Carteron added.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/GBJ/GABON2020

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