Espérance Sportive de Tunis football club announced on Friday that it has abandoned plans to renew the contract of Algerian player Youssef Belaïli, after negotiations stalled and the player failed to meet the signing deadline.

In a statement on its official Facebook page, the club explained that "after exhausting all stages of negotiation and the expiry of all deadlines agreed upon between the various parties, it has been decided to close the file of renewing the player's contract definitively."

Belaïli's contract, who has been injured since last November, ended on June 30, after which renewal negotiations began.

The club's management said that Thursday, July 23, was set as the final deadline for medical examinations and signing a two-year extension, but that deadline also passed without the player and his agent attending and without completing the contractual procedures.

The club's management announced that it has begun studying other options in the transfer market, in line with the technical staff's vision, to ensure the team is strengthened with players capable of making a difference and achieving Espérance's goals for the upcoming sports season.