Gamal first Egyptian to join South African club

Johannesburg (AFP) – Al Ahly striker Amr Gamal joined Wits on a one-year loan Tuesday and will become the first Egyptian to play top-flight football in South Africa.    

Wits coach Gavin Hunt was impressed by the 25-year-old when the clubs met in a CAF Champions League qualifier this year and instigated lengthy negotiations.

The Johannesburg-based South African champions have an option to buy Gamal at the end of the domestic season next May.

“Amr is an old fashioned No. 9 (centre-forward) and I like those type of players,” Hunt told reporters. “He can create and score goals.”  

Gamal fulfilled both roles last week, scoring the equaliser and creating the winner when Ahly defeated Al Masry 2-1 to win the Egypt FA Cup and complete a double.

He scored 30 goals in 102 appearances for record eight-time African champions Ahly and three in 14 outings for Egypt.

“The South African league is very strong with modern football,” Gamal said during his public introduction in Johannesburg.

Clubs are permitted five foreigners and the others at Wits are James Keene from England, Mozambican Elias Pelembe, Slavko Damjanovic from Montenegro and Malawian Frank Mhango.     

Gamal is the second north African in a Premiership squad this season, following the footsteps of Algeria-born Mamelodi Sundowns left-back Fares Hachi.