MX23RW : Wednesday, July 28 12:27:31| >> :120:50662:50662:

Slaven Bilic insists Ahmed Hegazi saga is dead and buried

The Egyptian defender was sold despite Slaven Bilic wanting to keep him as part of his squad.

West Brom boss Slaven Bilic insists the fallout following the sale of Ahmed Hegazi is over after he held clear-the-air talks with the club's hierarchy.

Speaking after the draw at Brighton on Monday, Bilic expressed his disappointment at the decision to sell Hegazi to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad.

Just a few days earlier Bilic had told a press conference the Egyptian defender would not be sold.

The row fuelled speculation that Bilic was considering his future at The Hawthorns but the 52-year-old insists the club have now put the matter behind them and moved on.

"I want to close the chapter. I was very vocal and clear but for me, that story is finished," said Bilic, who is preparing his team to play Fulham on Monday night.

"I wanted to say what I said publicly, I think it was needed, and I said the same to guys at the club – that was my opinion. For me, this is now chapter finished.

"I wish Ahmed all the best. He is a top player and a top guy and a top professional. But I would rather talk about (Semi) Ajayi, about (Branislav) Ivanovic, about (Kyle) Bartley, (Cedric) Kipre, (Dara) O'Shea and (Lee) Peltier who are the players we have in that position."

Asked if it has been easy to move on from, Bilic replied: "Why not? I said what I wanted to say. I think it needed to be said and I was vocal and I was clear.

"I also said it when we came back to the training ground two days after the game – I said it to the board and to the people at the club. For me, it is finished."

O'Shea is back in full training ahead of West Brom's trip to Craven Cottage. The defender missed the 1-1 draw with Brighton this week due to an ankle injury and should return to the squad on Monday night.

Winger Kamil Grosicki could also be included after returning to the club following the news that his loan move to Nottingham Forest this month was not ratified by the English Football League.

Bilic is hopeful midfielder Sam Field (knee) and forward Hal Robson-Kanu (broken arm) will be back in contention after the November international break.

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Hull City's Kamil Grosicki celebrates scoring their second goal on December 21, 2019
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Olympic medal table header
CountryGold medalSilver MedalBronze MedalT
JapanJapan124521
ChinaChina115824
United StatesUnited States1011930
Olympics flagOlympic Athletes from Russia78520
AustraliaAustralia61916
Great BritainGreat Britain56516
Today's Olympic highlights header

Wednesday's key events


ROWING
· Team GB have dominated the men's coxless fours in recent Olympics, winning on each of the last five occasions, but this year they face some stiff competition. They are one of four rowing medal contenders for Great Britain today (2.10am)

SWIMMING
· Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus face off again in the women's 200m freestyle final, with the latter having already come out on top in the 400m event (2.41am)
· Team GB's Abbie Wood is among the medal contenders in the women's 200m individual medley final, while teammate Alicia Wilson will also take part. USA's Kate Douglass was the fastest qualifier, while world and Olympic record holder Katinka Hosszu is also involved (3.45am)
· Katie Ledecky could make it two golds in one morning as she goes into the 1500m freestyle final as heavy favourite, having broken the Olympic record in qualifying (3.54am)
· Team GB were by far the fastest qualifiers for the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final and will therefore be favourites for another gold in the pool (4.26am)

RUGBY SEVENS
· Team GB take on New Zealand in the first men's semi-final, having been beaten by reigning champions Fiji but then come from behind to overcome USA on day two (3am)
· The sevens gold medal match takes place at Tokyo Stadium, with the winner of Great Britain vs. New Zealand taking on either Argentina or Fiji (10am)

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS
· Joe Fraser and James Hall compete for Team GB in the men's all-around final (11.15am-2.10pm)

CYCLING
· Anna Shackley will take part in the women's road time trial (from 3.30am)
· Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart have medal ambitions for Great Britain in the men's road time trial, although both will need to recover from the crash they suffered on Saturday (6am)

DIVING
· Jack Laugher bids to retain his men's 3m synchro diving title alongside new partner Daniel Goodfellow (7am)

EQUESTRIAN
· Charlotte Dujardin will look to add to her already legendary status with a third successive Olympic individual dressage title (9.30am-1.25pm)

> Today's schedule in full
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