"The Egyptian FA's rule of minimising squads to 25 players has made it impossible for us to keep Ali," Zamalek's official said.

Ali's departure comes after ten fruitful years he spent with the White Knights, during which he became the club's all time top scorer with 130 goals in all competitions.

The 35-year-old is now the second veteran Zamalek release after skipper Mohamed Aboul-Ella was offloaded by the club.

The Cairo club currently have strikers Sherif Ashraf, the newly-signed Ahmed Gaafar and Amr Zaki, whose future at the club is still far from certain.

Watch Ali's goals with Zamalek