Ahmed Elmohamady is expected to leave Aston Villa at the end of the season. His contract expires in July and the Midlands outfit have no intention of extending his deal beyond 2021.

The 33-year-old told Al-Nahar TV (via Birmingham Live) in November that he had offers to leave Villa last summer but opted to stay with Dean Smith’s side. Elmohamady has been recently linked with Al Ahly, but the Cairo club’s Director of Football Sayed Abdel-Hafiz has played down talk of a move for the right-back.

He told Kingfut: “With all due respect to Ahmed Elmohamady’s abilities and stature, nothing was discussed about him. Mosimane is continuing with his style and the characters he wants to deal with. There is a rule at Al Ahly. The requests of the head coach are the only thing we are trying to achieve.”

Pitso Mosimane has been Al Ahly’s manager since October and won the CAF Champions League, Egypt Premier League and Egyptian Cup in his first season. It makes sense from the outside why Elmohamady could be lured back to Egypt to finish his career, but the 33-year-old said in 2016 that he wants to retire in England and reiterated that stance last year.

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Elmohamady joined Villa from Hull City in 2017 and has gone on to make 120 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals and supplying 17 assists. He has been a fantastic servant for the Claret and Blues, playing a regular role in their return to the Premier League two years ago, and should certainly leave with glowing plaudits from Villa supporters whenever the time comes to move on.

It remains to be seen where Elmo will go after leaving Villa, but it doesn’t look like Al Ahly will be his next destination.