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Ten years ago, Palestinians players rarely moved from the West Bank or Gaza to reputable leagues in the Arab World. There was one exception of course, Ramzi Saleh, blazed a trail in 2008 when he left Shabab Jabaliya and joined the Champions of Africa- Al-Ahly.
That move came only after the 27 year old had proven himself with the national team and was the talking point of most of Palestine’s games. When Palestine managed to record a rare win or draw it was often backstopped by a string of Ramzi Saleh saves. When Palestine lost 2-0 it could have been five or six if not for Ramzi Saleh.
All this is to illustrate how far Palestinian football has come in the past decade. Even the talents of Abdelatif Bahdari and Ashraf Nu’man had to go to Jordan in their mid twenties before being given the chance to play in the Saudi Pro League.
Now, Palestinians are moving directly to Egypt and the league is enamored with the quality and the availability of Palestinian footballers. Perhaps the rule that allowed Egyptian Premier League clubs to add an additional foreign player from Palestine, Syria, or North Africa opened the door for this phenomenon but since the rule has been scrapped demand for Palestinian players has skyrocketed.
Pyramids FC paid a transfer fee of over $1M for the services of Mahmoud Wadi in 2020. His move to Al-Masry in 2018 started this current wave of Palestinian players going to Egypt in droves starting with his good friend Mohammed Saleh who signed for Al-Masry following the 2019 Asian Cup
Mohammed Saleh moves to Ittihad Alexandria
What a whirlwind 12 months it has been for Mohammed Saleh who spent nearly a year on the sidelines recovering from a torn ACL between 2019 and 2020. When he was finally healthy, Al-Masry decided to discard of the player first sending him out on loan and then unceremoniously kicking him out of the team hotel in the middle of the night last summer.
Saleh was forced to rebuild from scratch under a cloud of doubt. He signed with Qanah FC in Egypt’s second division as demand for his services in the top flight was brisk. That put him in the frame to start for Palestine again during the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup.
Although that tournament featured two games of Saleh out of position at a right back he did enough to convince relegation candidates Eastern Company to take a chance on him. The short term union was a match made in heaven as the team that had a meager point from the first eight games of the season
Saleh’s first start for the team generated a point. Two games later he scored the winner in Eastern Comapny’s first win of the season. An incredible run ensued after that with Eastern Company resulted in 9 goals that generated 14 points for the club who were only relegated on the penultimate day of the season.
Saleh’s heroics, only six players in the league scored more goals, did not go unnoticed. Although Qanah FC held his rights there was very little chance that he would return to the second tier.
Ittihad Alexandria will be Saleh’s next port of call. The club made a significant commitment to the defender, signing him to a three year contract.
Mohamed Darwish signs with Haras Al-Hudoud
One of the stars of Palestine’s 2018 AFC U23 Asian Cup campaign, Darwish, has struggled to find a stable club situation outside of the German fourth tier. The left footed attacker put together a good season in Kosovo’s topflight- with nine goal involvements in 28 appearances- but Trepca 89’s relegation last year left him looking for a new club.
Darwish returned to the German fourth tier and popped up with a goal and an assist is six appearances with SV Atlas. A January move to Shabab Al-Khaleel didn’t result in a lot of playing time but he did score a scintillating free kick in a 3-1 loss to Rifaa in the AFC Cup.
The newly promoted Haras Al-Hudoud should provide the 25 year old with a platform to garner consistent playing time, showcase his skills in one of the best leagues in the Arab World, and state his claim for a spot in Palestine’s 2023 Asian Cup squad.
