Mido for City?

Mido for City?

I believe that Manchester City had a stroke of luck when Stuart Pearce missed signing Mido, by a whisker, in the January window. Now I see reports that Mido is to be targeted again in the summer, and I can only imagine that the move is being made again without proper understanding and study of the background.


Mido began his career at the Egyptian club Al-Zamlek before moving first to K.A.A. Gent, and then to Ajax where he clashed with coach Ronald Koeman, and was reported to have thrown a pair of scissors at team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In 2004 he was in conflict with Egyptian national coach Marco Tardelli, and the Federation announced he would never play for Egypt again. When Tardelli was sacked the Egyptian Federation told Mido that if he apologised for his behaviour he could play for Egypt again. He did, but in February 2006, during the African Cup of Nations, Mido was thrown out of the Egyptian team again after reacting badly against new coach Hassan Shehata, who had substituted him in the semi-final against Senegal. Mido duly apologised and was allowed back but could only watch from the bench as Egypt beat the Ivory Coast in the final.


If it’s true that there is a summer plan to sign Mido, then I wonder how could such a questionable course of action be proposed and sanctioned for a second time. Mido’s past antics are well documented, and you might expect a little more prudence, from those involved, when there has been such little success of late in spending the club’s cash on strikers. Let’s hope it’s not true.


Bob Walsh