Wigan's Egyptian superstar Zaki walking the walk at the JJB Stadium

No wonder you cannot get any Zs for miles around. 

Not for love nor money, as the striker discovered when he wanted replica shirts to take back to Egypt for presents while on international duty last week for the African Nations Cup holders.

Wigan's Egyptian striker Amr Zaki has taken to English football water like a duck to water

‘Shops in Wigan, and even the Trafford Centre, had no letter Z left for the back of the shirts,’ says Zaki with the help of his translator Amera.

‘I bought 10 shirts to take back and had to spell out AMR instead of ZAKI.

‘When I gave them out, somebody said: “Oh, you’ve brought us back fake shirts”.’

But, as some of the best defenders in the world are finding out, there is nothing phoney about Zaki.

Steve Bruce spent most of the summer prising Zaki from his club Zamalek, taking his life in his hands on the manic Cairo streets as well as taking on a formidable club president who did not want to part with his star act.

The manager’s reward for his persistence has been an electric start from Zaki, who is the Premier League’s top scorer after scoring on his debut at West Ham, two at Hull and the equaliser against Sunderland.

Zaki has settled well into life in the north-west

He was also on target in the Carling Cup tie with Notts County.

At this rate, his £1.3million loan fee for the season will be a snip.

And chairman Dave Whelan might just as well post now the £500,000 cheque due to Zamalek if Zaki scores 10 League goals before the end of May.

But for that, they also get a pledge of loyalty:

'If any other club came in for me I would still want to stay at Wigan.

'I feel at home here.

'Yes, even Manchester United, even though Steve Bruce used to play there.’

So how long before the delighted Wigan faithful adapt that old Bangles hit Walk Like an Egyptian?

Zaki savours each goal as much as the pie Bruce ambushed him with to anoint the new boy an honorary Wiganer.

He mimes the manager, half-chewing, half-gurning (‘Mmm … you like? Good, good … English’).

He laughs, but he’s on a serious mission to repay Bruce as well as test himself against the best.

‘I cannot believe the determination of Steve Bruce. He spent six months trying to sign me.

'Now I want to show him that I am worth all his efforts.

'Zamalek didn’t want me to go, I begged them because I wanted to play in England.

'Every match is a new challenge for me — it does not matter what I did in the last one.

‘It’s an honour to be playing against all these good defenders, who are stars at their own club.

'This is the strongest league in the world.

Zaki is a hero in his native Egypt after helping the national side to back-to-back African Nations Cup triumphs

‘I would like you to please thank all the team, who include me in everything even if I can’t tell sometimes what they are saying to me, and especially the fans, because they have sent me a lot of love.’

‘A centre forward has no limits on how many goals he can score. I want to score every match.’

Zaki speaks from a position of strength. His record for Egypt — 29 goals in 48 games — and two African Nations Cup winner’s medals make him a giant on that continent and rated No1 in the FIFA rankings.

Naturally, others weighed him up before Wigan.

Newcastle sniffed around after the 2006 African Nations triumph.

Somehow, he ended up at Lokomotiv Moscow and never played a match.

It is an episode he prefers not to discuss — ‘I don’t want to disrespect the club or upset the fans there’ — but at least the Russian winter prepared him for the delights of the JJB Stadium on a bleak February night.

He said: ‘I won’t let the weather get in the way. The cold encourages you to run more to keep warm.’

Back in Cairo, he watched Premier League matches on pay TV and yearned for a chance in England.

‘Steve Bruce showed interest in me in January, so I watched Wigan and for their results.

'I was supporting them against Chelsea on TV.

Wigan Athletic boss Steve Bruce made Amr Zaki his number one target of the summer

‘I wanted to go to a club where I could do something. It was no point going to a club where I would be on the bench.

'I’ll score my goals against the big clubs.’

Wigan have found the Zakis a new town-house not too far from the M6.

Outside, it is strangely serene.

Rather different from the teeming Cairo streets where the drivers left Bruce a nervous wreck?

'No, I had to move to a quiet place because if the team did well, when I came home there would be a thousand people outside the building, chanting.

'It is not fair on neighbours.

‘And since August they have come down hard on drivers.

'You have to wear a seat belt, can’t smoke or drink or eat a sandwich while you drive any more.

'And you can only go through a red light for a good reason.’

Bruce will be comforted by that thought when a Wigan delegation will surely return next summer to trigger the option making the 25-year-old striker’s move to Lancashire permanent.

First things first, though.

Like mastering the roads (‘ left? … right?’: he does a Cairo taxi-driver shrug) and English lessons from Amera Brown — wife of Blackburn’s Jason, and fluent in Arabic.

Maybe stock up on a few letter Zs as well.

Chances are they will be in short supply for some time to come.