Abu Dhabi: Thiago Neves, Al Jazira’s Brazilian attacking midfielder, is to be sold or loaned to Atletico Mineiro in his homeland, it has emerged.
Neves’s departure after only a season at the Abu Dhabi club will be offset by the likely arrival of the Morocco left-winger Mubarak Boussoufa from Lokomotiv Moscow, as Gulf News reported on Thursday.
A club source said: “Neves will join the Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro once an agreement on financial terms is reached.”
The 31-year-old scored seven times in 21 appearances for Al Jazira, but did not have the impact anticipated after joining from Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.
Al Jazira confirmed earlier this summer that they will retain the Montenegro striker Mirko Vucinic and the South Korean midfielder Park Jong-woo as part of their foreign contingent for the new season.
They are expected to offload their Spanish midfielder Angel Lafita and Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfan along with Neves as part of a summer restructuring aimed at restoring them to the Arabian Gulf League’s elite.
Al Jazira finished a disappointing seventh last season after ending up runners-up in the 2014-15 campaign.
The capital outfit are also expected to swoop for the UAE right-back Mohammad Fawzi and midfielder Ebrahim Diaky, who play for Al Ain, later this summer.
Al Jazira have already signed the box-to-box Fujairah midfielder Humaid Ahmad, 28, and the 30-year-old Al Wasl midfielder Salem Abdulla.
They have also brought two-time former coach Jan Versleijen back as an assistant to fellow Dutchman Henk ten Cate, their current manager.
