JEDDAH, 28 October 2004 — Negotiations between Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr for the transfer of the latter’s first choice goalkeeper Muhammad Al-Khujali broke down, Arriyadiyah reported.
The deal between the two premier Saudi teams failed to materialize as the clubs haggled over the transfer fee with Nasr wanting SR11 million and Ittihad offering SR5 million. If the deal had gone through, the keeper would have got SR1 million while the remainder would have been paid to Nasr.
Everybody felt that it was a done deal. But a freak injury to Al-Khujali during the recent Nasr-Al-Hilal King Fahd Cup Riyadh derby scuppered the accord.
Al-Khujali had been scheduled to sign the contract to join Ittihad following this match. But a head-on collision with Hilal striker Sami Al-Jaber in the fifth minute of play triggered this last-minute standoff. An injured Al-Khujali was taken by ambulance to a hospital, and he was released after being kept under observation for 10 days.
Ittihad then submitted a revised offer to Nasr when negotiations resumed, wanting to pay only SR6 million, including the SR1million to the player. Nasr however rejected the scaled down offer.
After the deal stalled speculation was rife on what went wrong in the deal and who was to blame in kicking about Al-Khujali’s hopes. Saudi coach Muhammad Al-Kharashi said: “I don’t think the injury he sustained in the Hilal tie had anything to do with the deal going sour. It seems that Ittihad were not sure that Al-Khujali would give the best return for such a high investment. That’s why they made a new offer. Also, I think Nasr asked for too much especially now that Al-Khujali is not so young. I think SR10 million was too much. In my opinion the right amount would have been SR7 million.
“We should also keep in mind that former international and Hilal goalkeeper Muhammad Al-Daie transferred from Al-Taie for SR5 million when he was at his best. Al-Khujali is, at present, not at his best.”
Saleh Khalifa, former international Saudi player and Al-Ittifaq coach, said the deal was bound to fail as the asking price was too much. “Many people did not believe that Ittihad would pay SR10 million for a goalkeeper. Even if the goalkeeper was an excellent one, the amount asked by Nasr was too much. This amount would fetch a good striker or a midfielder, but for a goalkeeper no way. Also Al-Khujali was out for a long time last season due to injury. Despite his comeback this season, I think it is too early to judge his performance. I do not think Ittihad were serious about sealing this deal. Ittihad have other goalkeepers and recently they snapped up a young goalkeeper from Khaleej club as long term investment. Agreed goalkeepers last longer, but we are talking big money here — SR10 million.”
There was mixed reactions from both Nasr and Ittihad fans. One Nasr fan Megbel Al-Onaizi said: “The timing was bad. Such deals should be done before the season starts or at the end, but not when the Saudi league is in the first stage. Mansour Al-Balawi (Ittihad chief) has distracted the player with this offer. Now he has backed out from the deal with the excuse that the player is injured. He knew about this last year and yet his club made an offer. Now, many Nasr fans consider Al-Khujali as a traitor because he was thinking of leaving when the team needed him most. Not many fans want to see Al-Khujali wearing the team colors anymore and I think Ittihad is to blame for this.”
Ittihad fan Hisham Omar too was of the same opinion. He said: “On Oct. 15, Ittihad spent SR1 million to buy Khaleej goalkeeper Faiez Al-Subaie — a good deal as the player is young and can figure in Ittihad’s long term plan. But to buy Al-Khujali for SR11 million would have been too much. For that amount, we can get 5 to 8 young players that would benefit the team, not a goalkeeper with a long history of injury.”
