Leathes Prior's Sports Team involved in another exciting deal as a busy January continues
Dan Chapman, Head of our Sports Team, has travelled to Cairo with Lee Payne (Head of Football in our player management business Full Contact) to conclude the high profile transfer of Souleymane Coulibaly to Egyptian giants Al Ahly SC.
Dan Chapman, Head of our Sports Team, has travelled to Cairo with Lee Payne (Head of Football in our player management business Full Contact) to conclude the high profile transfer of Souleymane Coulibaly to Egyptian giants Al Ahly SC.
The transfer from Kilmarnock, for an undisclosed fee, sees the 22 year old Souleymane put pen to paper on a contract until the summer of 2019. The Ivorian, who has earned regular plaudits for a stunning collection of goals since he joined the Scottish Premier League last summer, was regularly scouted by Al Ahly in these last few months - and after a series of rejected transfer bids throughout January, Kilmarnock agreed terms with them last weekend prompting Souleymane and Dan and Lee to travel to Cairo to hold talks.
An international transfer of this nature, in the January transfer window with Al Ahly themselves up against a registration deadline in order for Souley to be eligible for the Africans Champions League, is fraught with complexity.
Dan Chapman, who led on the legal aspects of the transfer, commented "We arrived in Cairo on Sunday to hold talks, which took place over the next 48 hours. There was an awful lot to agree and a huge volume of documentation to draft, but once it became clear that Souley wanted to make the move everybody worked tirelessly to make it happen. I would like to thank the Kilmarnock and Al Ahly officials for working under real pressure and for us, whilst it was a very challenging transaction to co-ordinate, it has ended up one that all parties seem very pleased with. For Souley, Al Ahly is a huge club for him to join; they are the most successful club in African history and, in terms of international titles, joint-second with Barcelona behind Real Madrid only. With an estimated fan base of some 50 million, once we saw the magnitude of this club it was breath-taking."
For some footage of the goals that Souleymane scored in Scotland that caught the eye of Al Ahly, click here.
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Changes to qualifying period: Time to rethink probation periods?
From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period is reducing from two years to six months. But the reality is that the new law will apply to all employees who have already accumulated at least six months of continuous employment by this date. This means that now is the right time for employers to be reviewing their employment contracts and rethinking strategies on probationary periods.
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Georgia Sartin, a Solicitor in our Property and Contentious Probate Team explores the government’s recent open consultation ‘a fairer end to relationships’ published on 5 June 2026, , in respect of the proposals for reform for cohabitants in the intestacy framework and 1975 Act claims.
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