Enlarge imageBy Marc Isaacs
LONDON (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur are hoping to persuade Egypt to allow striker Mido to fly back to England and play for them during the African Nations Cup, coach Martin Jol said on Thursday.
Jol said he would hold talks with Egypt coach Hassan Shehata over the possibility of Mido commuting between some Cup games during the tournament in January and February.
"We have to send Mido to the African Nations Cup next month," Jol said.
"He will go out to Egypt and there is the possibility he could fly back for the odd game. We have to talk about that with the Egyptian management. There are a few options for us to consider.
"But if they do well we are still going to miss him for four games. I will not be bringing in a loan signing because we already have (Grzegorz) Rasiak at the club. He knows that he is a substitute for Mido and at this moment that is the only thing that I can do."
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Egypt face Libya on January 20, Morocco on January 24 and the Ivory Coast on January 28. The games clash with Tottenham’s Premier League match against Aston Villa and a possible FA Cup fourth-round tie.
Mido is certain to join up with Egypt at least a week before the tournament which would mean him missing another Premier League game against Liverpool on January 14.
If Egypt progress past the group stages he would missed more games for Tottenham.
Jol will also lose experienced defender Noureddine Naybet who plays for Morocco.
Jol has refused to rule out the possibility of signing Feyenoord striker Dirk Kuijt who is constantly being linked with a 12 million pounds move to the club.
"Dirk wanted to stay with Feyenoord earlier in the season because he thought if he moved to another club, his position would not be the same. But we will never close the door on signing anybody," Jol added.
