Egyptian striker Ahmed Hassan ‘Kouka’ joins Olympiacos

Egyptian striker Ahmed Hassan ‘Kouka’ joined Greek giants Olympiacos from Portugal’s Sporting Braga on Friday, the player and the club announced.

Olympiacos, who finished third in the Greek league last season, posted a welcome message to Kouka on their official Twitter account, without providing further details.

Kouka then announced the new move, expressing his gratitude for Braga after spending three years with them.

“Today I’m starting a new challenge in my career. I will never forget the club which helped me to get here,” the 25-year-old said on Twitter.

“I want to thank everyone at the club for everything they have done for me, and I want to give special thanks to the fans who always supported me.”

Kouka scored 24 goals in 101 appearances with Braga in all competitions, including 11 Portuguese league goals in the 2015-16 season. He has played a bit-part role last season though, netting only five goals in 20 league appearances.

The former Rio Ave frontman made 18 appearances with the Egyptian national team, scoring five goals, but he was left out of their squad for the summer World Cup in Russia where the Pharaohs bowed out at the group stage after losing all their three games.

Kouka is the third Egyptian player to move to the Greek Super League this summer after striker Bassem Morsi and winger Shikabala, who joined AE Larissa and Apollon Smyrni on loan deals from Cairo’s Zamalek respectively.

The trio joins Amr Warda, an Egyptian international winger who spent last season on loan at Atromitos from PAOK FC.