Tunisian defender Ammal Jemal is now retired, and when speaking of his career this week, he brought up some interesting claims saying his path could’ve been a little different.
Speaking to IFM’s Sport+ show, the 34-year-old revealed that a few years ago, Southampton tried to bring him to the Premier League, but he turned down their attempt when he realised they wanted to penny-pinch and not give his club what they were owed.
“Indeed, I was in top form and the English asked my agent and the club, but they did not want to pay the training bonus. Not wanting to deprive the ESS of its rights, I finally drew a line under Southampton and the Premier League,” said Jemal (via Gnet).
Jemal doesn’t say exactly when the attempt was made, but if we check the rumours from the last decade, there are stories about Southampton’s talks to sign him back in 2011.
By ESS, the defender means ES Sahel, the first club he played for, so the Saints were trying to bring him to the Premier League in the first few years of his career.
Following his start in Tunisia, Jamal then played in Switzerland, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
He retired in February 2021, playing for Al-Sahel, and was never able to feature in English football, with Southampton seemingly deciding to move on after he turned them down.
