The Chilean striker Carlos Munoz was sent to champions Al Ahli in exchange for defender Saeed Suroor and Dh40 million on Thursday night in the biggest of several deals ahead of the Arabian Gulf League midnight Thursday transfer deadline.
The other major moves had Ahli moving Hugo Viana, the Portuguese midfielder, to Al Wasl and the latter club sending Mohammed Nasser, the Emirati forward, to Baniyas in a straight sale.
Read more: Al Ahli’s attacking struggles will not entice champions to open their wallet
Munoz, 25, had a productive first season with Baniyas in 2013/14, scoring 14 goals in 21 league matches, but he and Baniyas had started slowly this season. He had one goal in four league matches.
Ahli posted a tweet with Munoz posed next to the club logo. He was quoted as saying: “Ahli are the strongest club and it will be a great experience with a winning team. I will do everything for the club.”
Ahli are the defending league champions and will play in the Asian Champions League next year.
Munoz signed a four-year contract for Dh25m with the Dubai side and will be expected to fill the void in the Ahli attack left by the injury loss of Ciel, the Brazilian winger who suffered two breaks to his ankle and likely is out for the season.
Suroor could be a useful piece for Baniyas; the left-back was a member of the 2012 UAE Olympic team and appeared in 19 league matches two seasons ago, but has been seldom used by Ahli since.
Baniyas had tried to pry the forward Ahmed Khalil from Ahli, where he sees only occasional duty, but they decided to keep the UAE international. Baniyas likely would have made him a regular in their first XI.
The Abu Dhabi side, on their Twitter feed, suggested they received a “huge” amount of cash from Ahli in the deal, in addition to Suroor.
Viana will replace Neto Barola in the Wasl side. The Dubai club have managed only two points from four league matches and currently reside in the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, Wasl were keen to move Nasser, who could not get into their first XI this season. He did score seven goals in 17 league matches last season and could be set to be a fixture for Baniyas.
It is expected Baniyas were trying to sign a fourth expatriate Thursday night, to fill the spot left open by Munoz’s departure. Luis Garcia, the coach, earlier had complained of having only one forward, Munoz, and a second player up top would seem to be a priority.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5