Belgian club Mechelen announced the signing of Algerian international Ahmed Touba, in an official statement published today, Wednesday, September 4, for one season on loan, coming from the Turkish club Basaksehir, in a move aimed at reviving the career of the multi-position player, and returning to shine again, in the hope of regaining his position in Algerian national team.
With this step, Ahmed Touba (26 years old) has succeeded in compensating for the other Algerian player, Islam Slimani, who played the second half of last season with the Belgian club active in the Belgian Premier League, before leaving it this summer due to the refusal of coach Besnik Hasi to renew and extend his contract.
And his stardom declined Algerian defender Since the summer of 2022, when he chose to join the Turkish club Basaksehir, where he performed modestly and in secondary roles during the 2022-23 season, before being loaned last season to the Italian club Lecce, with whom he participated in only seven matches, before deciding this season to have a new experience in a country he knows well.
The Desert Warriors defender began his football career in Belgium and had many experiences there, such as playing for Mouscron, Zulte Waregem, andClub Brugge And Leuven, and he was close to joining the Belgian national team at one point; but he preferred the Algerian national team at the last moment.
Belgian club Mechelen announces the signing of Ahmed Touba
Belgian club Mechelen announced the signing of Algerian player Ahmed Touba via its official account on the “X” platform, two days before the closing of the transfer market in Belgium (September 6), and said in a statement on its official website: “Mechelen Club welcomes the new defender Ahmed Touba (26 years old) on loan from the Turkish club Basaksehir with an option to buy.”
“With previous experience at Zulte Waregem, Club Brugge and Leuven, the Belgian league seems familiar territory for the Algerian, who holds three nationalities, including Belgian and French. He brings experience and versatility to the club,” he added.
Mechelen’s sporting director Tim Mathis described the Algerian defender, who can play at centre-back or left-back, as a “true leader”, and said: “With Ahmed Touba we are bringing in a true leader, his experience is at the highest level and his position provides additional opportunities within the team.”
“The efforts we made at the beginning of the transfer window to bring him to Mechelen were crucial to finally convince him,” he explained. Tim Mathis, who is satisfied with the deal, stressed: “What seemed unthinkable at the beginning of this transfer window, we have now succeeded in achieving.”
For his part, the Algerian international expressed his happiness to join Mechelen Club and return to the Belgian League, and said in statements to the team’s official account on the “X” platform: “I am a 26-year-old Algerian player, a central defender,” adding: “I am Ahmed Touba and I am very happy to sign here and I am eager to meet the fans on the field.”
Touba is looking forward to regaining his known levels in the hope of exploiting the defensive problems of the Algerian national team, and returning to compete for a place in the calculations of the new coach, Vladimir Petkovic, in the coming period.
