Former Ahli guardian Saleh left Sudanese giants Merreikh to join Zamalek on a two-and-a-half year deal on Saturday.

Zamalek's out-of-favor goalie Essam Al-Hadari moved the opposite direction but the Cairo club insisted it was not a swap deal.

"I'm not in a position to say whether Saleh's deal is a successful one or not," fans favorite Al-Sayed, who has been Zamalek's first-choice keeper for around a decade, told FilGoal.com on Sunday.

"But signing an experienced keeper such as Saleh was important; I called for that more than once.

"We had to bring in a new keeper following the departure of Al-Hadari."

Saleh played for Zamalek's arch-rivals Ahli between 2008 and 2010 but barely made an impact, failing to fill the void left by the abrupt departure of Al-Hadari to Swiss side Sion.

Zamalek sought to land a new custodian after Mohamed Abdul-Monsef, who used to play second-fiddle to Al-Sayed, joined Gouna in the close season.

Saleh, 30, will act as understudy to Al-Sayed.