2023-11-14 12:30:55
It seems that the days of Muhammad Al-Kuwaikbi, a player for the Al-Ettifaq team competing in the Saudi Professional Football League, are numbered, especially as he enters the free period next January and has the right to negotiate with any club.
The Al-Kuwaibi problem exacerbated the team’s crises this season, with the player’s agent and Englishman Steven Gerrard, the “Faris Al-Dahna” coach, exchanging accusations regarding the player’s position.
The agreement problem was primarily technical, especially after the injury of its striker Moussa Dembele, but it has now moved to the changing room.
Al-Ettifaq achieved an orphan victory against Al-Wahda, during the last five matches in which Dembele was absent due to injury, as it tied in 2 and lost in the same, and the team did not score any goal in 4 of those matches.
Gerrard hopes that Dembele’s return after the end of the current international break, against Al-Ittihad, will help him overcome the goal-scoring crisis that has afflicted the team in the recent period, especially since the English coach may lose another offensive weapon in the form of Al-Kuwaibi, who is expected to be ruled out during the coming period.
Gerrard criticized his asteroid player through the media. He said during the press conference that followed the Al-Fayhaa match on Saturday evening, within the Roshen League competitions: “Al-Kuwaibi was absent, then he came on Thursday, spoke with the doctor, and said, ‘I am sick,’ then he got into his car and left. I am still searching for the reason for this behavior.”
Muhammad Al-Kwaikbi, Al-Ettifaq player (Al-Ittifaq Club)
Jarrah Al-Dhafiri, Al-Kwaikbi’s agent, responded, saying: “The player left after the permission of the doctor who examined him, knowing that Al-Kwaikbi went to the hospital after that, and there is a medical report proving this, and he was sent to the club.”
He added in exclusive statements to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Gerard must verify his information and that of his crew before he goes out to the media and makes a statement like this.”
Omar Al-Jaghiman, head of the media and communications department at Al-Ettifaq Club, responded to the player’s agent’s statement in statements to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, explaining: “Muhammad Al-Kuwaikbi came to the club last Thursday, and mentioned to the doctor that he was feeling unwell and could not participate in the exercise, and the doctor’s response was that he was not feeling well.” There were signs that prevented him from training, but the player left without asking permission from the administrative and technical staff in violation of the rules, citing a health condition. Then the team manager went to his house and asked him to come, but he also refused, and he sent a voice message to the coach through the WhatsApp application, regretting his loss. He did not attend due to illness.
The club’s management is planning to market the Swedish Robin Quaison and the Brazilian Vitinho, in preparation for selling their contracts, after they left Gerrard’s accounts, in exchange for attracting a distinguished foreign winger who meets Gerrard’s requirements, but with the possibility of Al-Kuwaibi’s departure, the club will be required to sign an additional winger.
In addition, during the recent match between Al-Fayhaa and Al-Ettifaq, cameras captured a warm embrace between the English coach of Al-Ettifaq team Steven Gerrard and the Zambian player Fashion Sakala, the Al-Fayhaa player, bringing back memories of their work together in the Scottish Rangers team at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season.
Yahoo Sports said that the meeting may pave the way for the player to be reunited with his former coach in the Al-Ettifaq team in the upcoming winter transfer period, during which Gerrard will seek to strengthen the ranks of his declining team this season, as Al-Ettifaq currently occupies seventh place, 13 points behind leaders Al-Hilal.
Fashion Sakala joined Al-Fayhaa in the summer for £3 million, scoring 6 goals and making two assists in his 17 appearances for the club so far in all competitions.
Al-Fayhaa hosted Al-Ettifaq at Al Majmaah Sports City Stadium, and the match ended in a goalless draw. After the match, footage captured the moment when Gerrard and Sakala embraced each other on the touchline.
Gerrard had signed the Zambian player for Rangers in the summer of 2021, a few months before he left for England to coach Aston Villa.
Sakala (26 years old) had defended the colors of the Nachanga Rangers and Zanaco teams in his country, Zambia, before leaving for Europe through the Russian club Spartak Moscow, and from there the Belgian club Lausthend, before playing two seasons for the Rangers in which he won the local cup title and played the 2022 European League final, which Rangers lost it to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Gerrard had said that his team would enter the winter transfer season strongly, with Al-Ettifaq keen to have “more competitive capabilities.”
Gerrard said in previous press statements: “To reassure our fans, we will search in Europe for more options. But more importantly, we will also need to look locally to improve this team, to be more competitive.”
However, Al-Ettifaq now has 10 professional players on its list. In addition to Henderson, Wijnaldum and Dembélé, there is also the Swede Robin Quisson, the Jamaican Demiray Gray, the Brazilian Paulo Victor, the Scot Jack Hendry, and the Congolese Marcel Tisserand. In addition to the Brazilian Vitinho and the Chadian Abderrahmane Omar, which means that the club, nicknamed “Faris Al-Dahna,” needs to get rid of at least 3 of their players in order to register a new foreign player.
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