West Brom agreed to the departure of Ahmed Hegazi without his permission and later Slaven Bilic told his frustrations to his superiors.
Hegazi has proved to be an important part of Baggies’ plans, since his arrival in 2017, making 104 appearances since then.
And Bilic insisted that he had assured the Egyptian of a concrete role in his team while he only had one Premier League appearance before his loan departure to Al-Ittihad.
However, West Brom has agreed to an initial loan agreement with the Saudi Arabian Club, which will lead to a permanent exit next summer.
After his side’s 1-1 draw with Brighton, Bilic said that he did not sanction the move.
He told reporters (via Sky Sports News): “It definitely wasn’t my decision. It wasn’t a football decision to be fair. I am very disappointed. We are a team that needs all our good players.”
“He is the player that has know-how in the Premier League, that has vast experience, a national team player, a great professional, and played last week against Burnley.”
“The whole week he was training with us and when we were doing the shape, even on Saturday, he was there.”
“I had assurances he was going to stay and so that makes me very, very disappointed that he left.”
Hegazi agreed to move before the deadline for the transfer of Saudi Arabia on 6 November.
