Ghaly transfer off

Birmingham City confirmed today that Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly will not be completing his transfer to St. Andrews. The midlands club, who were thought to be excited at capturing the tenacious center-mid/headless chicken, cited 'footballing reasons' as to why the transfer had collapsed, and one can only speculate that Steve Bruce was fortunate enough to see Hossam in action before the player signed on the dotted line.

According to Sky Sports News, it was entirely Birmingham's choice to cancel the deal which seems strange considering manager Steve Bruce had spoken out in praise of Ghaly and stressing the role he was going to play in the upcoming season. In a twist to the story, Tottenham's official site responded with a different version of events, saying: '"We can confirm that Hossam Ghaly has decided not to proceed with his transfer to Birmingham City."

So on the one hand we have a club attempting to save some face by claiming they decided to pull out of the deal themselves and on the other it seems that Ghaly took one look at Birmingham and thought 'you're having a laugh'. Which version of events is true is anyone's guess. What remains definite, however, is that the club have failed, yet again, to offload a piece of deadwood from the wage bill. Having seen the transfer of forward Mido collapse at the last minute, it remains to be seen whether Martin Jol will be able to shed himself of some unwanted weight before the transfer window, as its plainly obvious that the positions of Mido, and his compatriot Ghaly, at Tottenham are now untenable.