Having broken their 25-year trophy drought by winning the Gulf Clubs Championship, Al Nasr plan to challenge for the 2014/15 Arabian Gulf League title next season and have been linked with an audacious bid for Brazil international Paulo Henrique Ganso.
According to media reports in Brazil, Nasr are competing with Italian clubs AC Milan and Napoli for the 24-year-old attacking midfielder, who has been playing for Sao Paulo since 2012 after his move from Santos.
Ganso, who has been called “the new Kaka”, was Brazil’s No 10 at the 2011 Copa America.
Nasr are seeking a replacement for their Brazilian winger Eder Luis, who injured a cruciate ligament earlier this year and has been ruled out of action for eight months.
Meanwhile, Al Jazira have made a formal approach to Nasr for their national team star Habib Fardan, who was the leading scorer among Emiratis in the AGL last season with nine goals.
Fardan’s current deal with Nasr runs until the end of the 2014/15 season and he will be eligible to negotiate with any other club in the 2015 winter transfer window.
According to a Jazira spokesman, their offer is a club record for an Emirati player and, should Nasr agree, it could be one of the biggest deals in UAE football.
“We have made an offer for both an outright sale and a loan deal and now we are waiting for Nasr’s response,” the spokesman said. “We are hoping to hear back from them this week.”
Jazira are not the first club to make an offer for Fardan – Al Ahli and Al Wahda also approached Nasr in the past, but the club turned them down.
Elsewhere, Jazira veteran Subait Khater is looking for a new club after the breakdown of his renewal talks and the midfielder, 34, could be headed for Al Dhafra, while Ajman have signed a two-year deal with Al Wasl midfielder Hamad Al Hosni.
Vinicius Eutropio is looking forward to the challenge of keeping Ittihad Kalba in the top flight next season after being named the Division One champion’s new coach.
Eutropio, who was Carlos Alberto Parreira’s assistant when the Brazilian was coach of South Africa at the 2010 World Cup, took over the reins of the team from Egyptian Ayman Ramadi, who decided not to continue with the club after leading them to the Division One title.
Since the start of the professional era in 2008/09, Kalba have made it to the top division twice, in 2010/11 and 2012/13, but have failed to stay up, winning only nine of their 48 matches in those two seasons. Eutropio is keen to buck that trend.
“I have passed through these tests before, both in Brazil and the Portuguese league, and have succeeded in keeping a number of clubs in the top division,” said the 47-year-old Brazilian, who led Figueirense to the Santa Catarina State Championship earlier this year and picked up the best coach award, but was still shown the door by the club.
“This is the first experience for me in this part of the world, but I have been in contact with a number of coaches working here and I have a lot of important information about the league and the teams here,” he said.
“So I have no fears and, with due respect to the other teams in the Arabian Gulf League, I am ready to devote all my experience towards keeping Kalba in the professional league.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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