Rangers held talks with £8m ace now tipped to 'reach the level of Mo Salah' and £50m Man City target
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The Rangers-linked winger might not thank his manager after being compared to two of the nation’s finest talents; One bonafide footballing superstar and the other on his way to Manchester City.
Yet, that is the sort of pressure Ibrahim Adel will have to shoulder as the 23-year-old Egypt international looks to follow in the footsteps of both Liverpool icon Mo Salah and the seemingly Premier League-bound Omar Marmoush.
If Salah put Egyptian football on the map, then Marmoush’s reported switch to Manchester City may be the catalyst for European clubs to take a much closer look at the talent on offer in North Africa.
And should the Pyramids FC forward find himself attracting plenty of offers in the coming months, Rangers can claim to have been somewhat ahead of the curve.
Rangers allegedly held talks with Ibrahim Adel late last summer, only for the discussions to run aground.
"Rangers entered into negotiations to sign the player," an unnamed Pyramids FC 'official' told Laila Kora a few months ago. "But they stopped due to the failure to reach an agreement with the club regarding the financial considerations."
If Rangers could not afford the £4.5 million required at the time, then the inclusion of a new release clause in Adel’s contract surely puts pay to any plans they may have had of renewing their interest in 2025.
Rangers face uphill Ibrahim Adel battle as Pyramids FC demand £8 million
According to Al Watan News, any club looking to take Adel away from his homeland – La Liga outfit Getafe seem to be the most likely at this stage – will now have to part with £8 million.
That would make Adel the most expensive export in Egyptian league history.
£8 million is far more than the fee FC Basel paid to lure a little-known Salah away from Al Mokawloon over a decade ago. And a damn sight greater than the sum Wolfsburg invested when taking Marmoush from Wadi Degla in 2017.
Now, there is likely to be space at Ibrox for a new winger later this year.
Rabbi Matondo is attracting interest from Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday, alongside a number of Serie A outfits, while Vaclav Cerny’s future remains uncertain with Wolfsburg hoping to recoup as much of their £7 million investment as they can.
But has Ibrahim Adel – his reputation enhanced ever more with a glorious overhead kick winner against Esperance this month – already moved out of Rangers’ reach, financially speaking?
Whatever happens, 2025 is likely to be a big year for Egyptian superstars present and future. Manchester City are closing in on Eintracht Frankfurt talisman Marmoush to the tune of £50 million. Mo Salah’s Liverpool future is up in the air as his contract runs down.
And Adel, tipped to emulate both players by Egypt coach Ibrahim Hassan, is likely to be on the move himself as this big fish threatens to outgrow a relatively small footballing pond.
Adel tipped to emulate Mo Salah and Man City-bound Omar Marmoush
“We feel proud to have the two best players in the world in the national team. Mohamed Salah is constantly competing, in addition to Marmoush,” Hassan tells Time One Sport.
“Ibrahim Adel, I think he is capable of reaching the levels of Mohamed Salah and Marmoush. He has a great future. I hope he plays professionally abroad at the present time in order to reach what Salah and Marmoush have reached.
“Unfortunately, the number of [Egyptian] professionals abroad is small. We must see Ibrahim Adel [prove himself away from his homeland].
“We have many untapped resources and there are many players, but we must open the door to professionalism for them.”
