Al Jazira have completed their first overseas signing of the summer with the capture of Moroccan Mbark Boussoufa from Lokomotiv Moscow.
A two-year contract for the attacking midfielder, 31, was finalised late on Wednesday, with the player joining the team’s training camp in the Netherlands.
Boussoufa, who can also operate as a left winger, is expected to replace the Brazilian Thiago Neves in Henk ten Cate’s squad.
The Dutch coach has put Neves, the Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfan and the Spanish midfielder Angel Latifa up for sale.
Boussoufa, who has scored six times for his country in 40 appearances and who is a former Ajax and Chelsea academy member, joins from Russia’s Lokomotiv Moscow.
But the Amsterdam-born schemer spent last season on loan at Belgium’s Gent, where he started his career in 2004.
He is a three-time Belgian Footballer of the Year and has also twice claimed Belgian’s Golden Shoe.
Al Jazira were on Thursday also hoping to push through a deal for the Newcastle United defensive midfielder, Cheick Tiote, as Gulf News reported.
Elsewhere, Al Wahda’s new Brazilian star, Tiago Alves, is relishing the chance to help the Clarets push for major honours in the forthcoming season.
The 23-year striker penned a three-year deal with the ambitious Abu Dhabi outfit on Wednesday after completing a medical once a fee was agreed with his Brazilian parent club Penapolense.
Alves impressed on loan at South Korea’s Seongnam FC this year, where he was the 2016 K League Classic joint top-scorer with 13 goals in 18 appearances.
He hopes to achieve similar success with his new club, who qualified for the 2017 AFC Champions League after finishing third in the Arabian Gulf League last season and won the Arabian Gulf Cup in April.
“I am delighted to join the ranks of Al Wahda and I look forward to all the tournaments with my new club and hope to achieve many victories with them,” said Alves, who was a back-up striker to Brazil and Barcelona star Neymar when the pair were at Santos five years ago.
