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(Reuters) – West Bromwich Albion coach Slaven Bilic said he did not want Egyptian defender Ahmed Hegazi to leave the club and was shocked when he switched to Al Ittihad.
West Brom said on Monday that the 29-year-old center-back had moved to the Saudi Professional League team on a loan and would sign permanently at the end of the season.
Bilic said Hegazi had been part of their plans for Monday’s Premier League game against Brighton & Hove Albion, which ended 1-1, and that they couldn’t afford to lose their best players.
“He is the player who has the know-how in the Premier League, who has vast experience, a player for the national team, a great professional and he played last week against Burnley,” Bilic told a press conference.
“I wanted him to stay. He wanted to stay this week. It was a shock that he left. Obviously the club wanted to sell him.”
Hegazi played 104 games for West Brom and started 14 games last season when he won promotion to the Championship.
West Brom is 17th with three points from its first six games.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Edited by Peter Rutherford)
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