The towering striker, who almost spent a decade on the Old Continent, had his first experience away from his boyhood club Zamalek at Gent, after moving to the Belgian side in 2000.

Al-Ghandour, now a well-known TV presenter, revealed that Mido was keen to get back to the Whites while being in Belgium.

But negotiations between the charismatic player and the Cairo club reached a dead-end at the time, which left him no choice but to keep plying his trade in Europe, where he enjoyed his heyday later.

"I was Zamalek's captain back then and Mido was just a young player," Al-Ghandour said during his show on Dream TV.

"He wanted to get back to Zamalek when he was at Gent.

"Kamal Darwish, who was Zamalek's president at the time, offered him nothing more than EGP 120,000, whereas Mido wanted EGP 150,000 per season.

"The EGP 30,000 ($5,250) difference is why he stayed at Gent and then carried on his career in Europe."

The nomadic Mido, now an Ajax player, moved from one European club to another over the past years, including Celta Vigo, Marseille, AS Roma, Tottenham Hotspur and Middlesbrough.

In 2007, his monthly wage with Boro was in the area of £200,000. He was considered one of the highest earners at the Riverside.

Last season, however, he accepted a cut-price loan offer from West Ham United, which saw his earn only £1,000 a week.

Mido rejoined Ajax in the close season on a pay-as-you-play loan deal from Middlesbrough.

He spent six months on a loan basis at Zamalek in the 2009-2010 season, the only spell he has had outside Europe since 2000.