Sebastian Tagliabue signs two-year deal with Al Nasr


John McAuley
  • English
  • Arabic

Al Wahda striker Sebastian Tagliabue will soon have a new home after agreeing to a two-year deal with Arabian Gulf League rivals Al Nasr.

Nasr made the announcement on social media on Friday, welcoming the Argentine-born forward, 35, into their fold. The second-highest goalscorer in the history of the UAE top flight, Tagliabue will join Nasr once his contract at Wahda ends on June 30.

Speaking on Friday to The National, he said: "I'm so, so happy. From the very beginning, Al Nasr demonstrated they were very interested in me. My ambition is to help them win the league title."

Tagliabue, who earlier this month spoke of disappointment at ending "seven amazing years" with Wahda, thanked the Abu Dhabi side for their time together. He paid special tribute to Sheikh Diab bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the club president, for giving him an "unbelievable opportunity to play for this amazing club".

"Al Wahda will always be in my heart," Tagliabue said. "I don't say 'bye-bye', but 'see you soon'. I would never close the door on Al Wahda."

Tagliabue joined Wahda in 2013, going on to score 152 goals in 157 league appearances. Currently, he is 13 goals from the league's all-time record. In January, he was granted UAE citizenship and said it would be an honour to represent the national team.

Tagliabue became a naturalised UAE citizen following a change in regulations triggered by a Presidential decree issued by Sheikh Khalifa in November 2017.

EA Sports FC 24
BULKWHIZ PROFILE

Date started: February 2017

Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce 

Size: 50 employees

Funding: approximately $6m

Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT

Started: July 2016

Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori

Based: Bangalore, India

Sector: Health & wellness

Size: 500 employees

Investment: $250 million

Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)