Premiership club Everton have submitted a $2 million bid to Egyptian club Al Ahly for their defender Ibrahim Said.

The bid was confirmed by Adly El Kaiey, Ahly’s marketing managerearlier today.

“The offer mounting to $2.2 million was tabled to Al-Ahly by a company dealing in players marketing and having an exclusive representative here in the Middle East region,” quoted today’s edition of the Al-Gomhouria newspaper. ÿ

Said is a controversial figure in Egyptian football. During the African Nations Cup in Mail earlier this year he was sent back to Egypt and fined 100,000 Egyptian Pounds for failing to adhere to camp rules.

Said, who came close to joining Middlesbrough last season, is delighted atthe prospect of a move to England.

“That would be a dream coming true at the personal level,’ he stated. ‘I have always reiterated my position about building my career in Europe, and the offer couldn’t come at a better stage of my career.

“This will be a brilliant opportunity for me and my current club of course, and I am confident I will succeed over there should everything went fine in the upcoming few days,”