From Cairo to Tripoli: Why Fiston Mayele chose Libya – and immediately started scoring

Fiston Mayele’s decision to leave Pyramids FC for Al-Ahli Tripoli raised eyebrows across African football, but the DR Congo striker has wasted little time demonstrating why the Libyan club invested so heavily in one of the continent’s most accomplished forwards.

The 32-year-old scored as Al-Ahli secured an impressive 3-0 away victory over KMKM in Zanzibar in the first leg of their TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup First Preliminary Round tie, putting the Libyan giants firmly in control before Saturday’s return match in Tripoli. 

It was an almost perfect start to a new chapter that initially appeared surprising.

Mayele had left one of Africa’s most ambitious and successful clubs, having helped Pyramids win their first CAF Champions League title and established himself among the continent’s leading strikers.

Yet instead of moving to Europe, the Gulf or remaining in Egypt, he chose Libya – a country whose football is rebuilding its international profile after years in which political instability and security concerns affected the domestic game.

For Mayele, however, the explanation was refreshingly straightforward.

“I signed at Al Ahli Tripoli for the money. I’m already 32 years old and in football that’s already a lot,” he was quoted as saying on African football news websiite following questions about his decision. 

A deal difficult to refuse

The financial package helps explain why Tripoli proved so attractive.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that Mayele agreed a two-year contract worth a net $5m per season, excluding bonuses and other benefits – figures which, if accurate, place his earnings alongside those of players at some major European clubs. 

Afrik-Foot reported that Mayele also had opportunities elsewhere in Africa and the Gulf, and that he had previously turned down an offer from Egyptian giants Al Ahly. 

His DR Congo coach Sébastien Desabre believes the decision needs to be understood in the context of the striker’s career.

“I know he also had other offers, in Africa and the Persian Gulf in particular,” Desabre told AfricaSoccer.com.

“I admit I don’t know Libyan football very well, but I know it’s a league with a lot of passion and which attracts good African players because there are clearly significant financial resources.

“Al-Ahli have significant financial resources, ambitions and when you are offered such a salary in addition to an interesting sporting challenge, it is normal to accept.” 

That last point is important.

Mayele has not simply moved to Libya to collect a lucrative final contract. Al-Ahli are assembling a squad designed to challenge well beyond their domestic competition.

CAF highlighted their recruitment drive before the Confederation Cup began, with Mayele joined by experienced players including South African forward Fagrie Lakay. Former Pyramids midfielder Blati Touré and former Espérance winger Hamdou Elhouni are also among the established names available to Egyptian coach Hossam El Badry. 

Al-Ahli have enjoyed recent domestic success, winning the Libyan league two seasons ago and adding the Libyan Cup last season, but continental silverware remains missing from their honours list.

The scale of their recruitment suggests changing that has become a priority. 

Libya’s extraordinary transfer boom

Mayele’s move is also part of a much bigger story.

Libyan football is increasingly attracting established African internationals with financial offers capable of competing with clubs in Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and even some markets outside the continent.

Le Monde reported that Al-Ahli paid $2.5m for Senegal international Mamadou Lamine Camara earlier in 2026, while Burundi international Jean Claude Girumugisha was recruited from Al-Hilal in a deal reported at $6m. 

Other leading Libyan clubs have embarked on similarly ambitious recruitment.

It represents a striking development for a country still dealing with the consequences of years of conflict and continuing political division.

The second Libyan civil war ended in 2020, but the country remains politically divided. Yet football has retained an enormous following and some leading clubs possess substantial financial backing.

Former Al-Ahli coach Didier Gomes Da Rosa told Le Monde that wealthy businessmen, some with links to centres of political power, are behind several clubs’ ability to recruit high-level African players and offer substantial salaries.

Former Libya coach Corentin Martins offered another explanation for the extraordinary wages.

“If clubs offer very high salaries to foreign players or coaches, it is not by chance,” he told Le Monde.fr, explaining that some potential recruits remain hesitant about moving to Libya and that exceptional financial conditions can persuade them.

Mayele may therefore be the highest-profile symbol yet of a changing Libyan football economy.

From modest beginnings to one of Africa’s best-paid players

The size of Mayele’s contract becomes even more remarkable when placed against the trajectory of his career.

He emerged through Congolese football, including a spell with AS Vita Club, before his goals for Young Africans transformed his profile.

In Tanzania, Mayele became one of the most feared forwards in East African football and helped Yanga reach the 2023 CAF Confederation Cup final.

Pyramids took him to Egypt that year and his rise continued.

He scored 54 goals during his time with the Cairo club, and became instrumental in their emergence as continental champions. 

His DR Congo coach believes that journey is important when assessing the decision to take the riches now available in Libya.

“Mayele has worked very hard, it hasn’t always been easy for him and he deserves what is happening to him,” Desabre said.

“He is an efficient striker, a hard worker, with an excellent attitude. I am very happy for him, and everywhere he has been, he has established himself.” 

The transfer also raised another question: could moving from the highly regarded Egyptian league to Libya damage Mayele’s international career?

Desabre’s answer was emphatic.

“Like all the others, he will have to perform for his club and will face competition in the national team. But I see no reason not to select a player because he plays in Libya.” 

Mayele wastes no time

For Al-Ahli supporters, the debate over why Mayele moved matters considerably less if he continues scoring.

His goal against KMKM helped ensure his first continental assignment with his new club ended with a commanding away victory.

“First of all, thank God we achieved victory in a match that wasn’t easy,” Mayele told reporters afterwards.

“The Libyan league hasn’t started yet, so we faced some difficulties, but we managed to fight, score goals and in the end achieved an important victory.

“I’m very happy to score and I want to achieve success with my new team, after achieving one of my biggest dreams by playing for my country and scoring at the World Cup.”

Even KMKM had identified Mayele as the man to stop.

Assistant captain Martin Charles said his team had attempted to contain the Congolese collectively, adding that without that approach Mayele might have scored more than once. 

That, perhaps, demonstrates the status with which he has arrived in Libya.

Mayele is no longer the relatively unknown striker who left Congolese football to make his name with Young Africans. He arrives in Tripoli as a DR Congo international, a proven CAF competition goalscorer and one of the continent’s most recognisable centre-forwards.

Saturday’s return against KMKM should offer Al-Ahli the opportunity to complete the first step of a much more ambitious continental project.

They carry a three-goal advantage back to Tripoli and, in Mayele, possess a striker who knows precisely what it takes to deliver in African competition.

The destination may have surprised African football.

The money may have helped explain it.

But if Mayele can reproduce in Tripoli what he achieved in Dar es Salaam and Cairo, his move could eventually be remembered for more than the extraordinary salary that took him there.