Majdi Al-Saidi-Tunisia

The rush of Tunisian clubs to sign Algerian players during the summer transfer window was the most prominent event in the football arena ahead of the opening of the first division of the 2019-2020 season on Saturday.

The new laws on foreign contracts, passed by the Tunisian Football Federation since December 18, 2018, which stipulate that delegates from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Libya should be considered local players, have prompted the league's clubs to turn to the Algerian market in an unprecedented way.

Before the 65th edition of the tournament was launched, the summer transfer window set a record for the 23 players from the Algerian league, the highest in the history of the league.

Algerian invasion
Esperance, the defending champion and winner of the African Champions League, signed four Algerians, Bilal Ben Saha, Abdelkader Badran, Elias Chti and Abdelraouf Ben Ghaith, raising his share of the Algerians to six players with Tayeb Meziani and Youssef Blili since last season.

Etoile Sahel, one of the contenders for the first rounds of the competition, also included Yannis Taffer and Salim Boukhenchouche, who joined their compatriot Karim Laribi, bringing the number of Algerians on the team to three.

In turn, CS Sfaxien, who won the Tunisian Cup, followed the lead of Esperance and Etoile and signed with Algerians Abdelkrim Khemmar and Mohamed Islam Bakir, who in January 2019 had signed their compatriot Nazir El Korichi, while CA Bizertin signed Jamal Eddine Shatal, and assigned Kairouan youth Sidi Mohamed Annab. , And moved Sufian Khalili to the union bin Qardan, and Abdul Rahman bin Jameh to star Metlaoui.

Ittihad Tataouine signed five contracts with the Algerian players, with the accession of Moulay Abdelaziz Abdelkader, Haitham Gharib, Youssef Aidoudi, Djellali Ben Chennane and Ziane Ait Meziane, and Mohamed Attia signed a two-year contract with the future newcomer Suleiman to the Premier League.

Algerian Ait Ziane signs with Tetouine team (Websites)

Club Africain recaptured Algerian Mokhtar Belkhether after his loan to Saudi club Al Qadisiya ended in June.

The wave of Algerian players invading the Tunisian league gave mixed opinions. While some believe it contributes to the development of the technical level and fuel the competition, coach Shaker Meftah said that judging the success of this experiment is premature considering that the green rectangle is the first measure to assess the ability of these professionals to provide addition. .

Meftah, who is coaching Suleiman's future after leading him for the first time in his Premier League history, sees the new rules as the main motive for clubs' access to the Algerian market.

He told Al Jazeera Net that "this phenomenon is a double-edged sword for clubs and Tunisian football in general. There are fears that this invasion will negatively affect the chances of young local players to emerge and play with the first team, we will see whether the experience is useful or not, at the end of the season."

Acer roads
For his part, Vice President of Hammam-Lif club Nasser Atrous, ruled out that the arrival of Algerian players a lot in the Tunisian league to improve the technical level.

Nasser Al-Atrous: Disadvantages of experience may appear in the long run in the imbalance of youth training programs and the absence of a clear strategy for club programs and objectives (Al Jazeera)

"It is clear that the Algerian market is the easiest way for the league clubs because of the high value of the deals on the one hand and the fact that these players are considered local on the other hand, but the disadvantages of the experience may appear in the long run in the imbalance of youth training programs and the absence of a clear strategy for club programs," Atrous said. And their goals. "

Over the past years, a number of Algerian players have created Tunisian clubs, but Esperance striker Youssef Blili remains the most capped, especially in the last two years, when he led him to the league title and the African Champions League in the last two editions.

In 2013, Esperance signed Algerian Antar Yahia, who reached the semi-finals of the African Champions League.

In 2013, Etoile Sahel signed striker Baghdad Bounjjah from USM El Harrach.This player actively contributed to the team's triumph in the Tunisian Cup on two occasions, the domestic league and the African Confederation Cup on a single occasion before moving to Qatar's Al Sadd in 2016.

Abdelmoumen Gabou made the African club's spring in the 2014-2015 season when he effectively contributed to his return to the podium after an eight-year absence, and was crowned in 2013 the league's top scorer.