Dubai turn to Frenchman to manage club

Rene Marsiglia will move from France's Ligue 1 for his first overseas assignment when he takes over Dubai.

Rene Marsiglia was shown the door at Nice even though he took over the club when they were threatened with relegation and kept them in Ligue 1.

DUBAI // The Frenchman Rene Marsiglia, a former Lille and Nice defender, has been named Dubai's coach for next season.

Marsiglia was promoted from assistant to coach at Nice in November and saved the French Ligue 1 club from relegation, but was still dismissed at the end of the season.

At Dubai, he will succeed Ayman Al Ramadi, who helped the club survive in the Pro League but failed to get an extension.

Dubai have decided to renew the contracts of all the other members of the administrative, technical and medical team.

Marsiglia, who will be working outside France for the first time, will start in his new job from July 1 when the players start assembling for the pre-season preparations.

A statement by the club indicated that announcements about new players will be made soon.

At Al Nasr, the speculation over Habib Fardan's future at the club was brought to an end following the official signing of a three-year contract. Fardan is in training with the UAE Olympic team in Switzerland and, on his behalf, his father signed the deal.

Fardan had agreed to his renewal months ago, but his failure to sign the contract before leaving with the Olympic team had raised some concerns among the club's fans and management.

Nasr, second behind Al Ain in the Pro League last season, have also added five new Emirati players to their rosters: the defender Ahmed Medd from Al Ahli, the Dubai striker Hassan Mohammed, the goalkeeper Ramadan Bilal from Fujairah, and Sharjah's Humaid Ahmed and Khamees Al Imani.

The club have also finalised three of their four foreign players for next season. Mark Bresciano and Leo Lima have been retained, and the Italian Giuseppe Mascara has been brought in to replace compatriot Luca Toni.

Nasr talks with Amara Diane have come to a standstill over the Ivory Coast striker's financial demands.

At Al Wasl, the Argentine Mariano Donda has signed a new two-year deal. Interestingly, the Wasl coach Diego Maradona had recommended against renewing Donda's contract, according to club sources, and had instead suggested another Argentine, Leonardo Pisculichi, as a replacement.

A former Argentinos Juniors and Mallorca midfielder, Pisculichi has spent the last five seasons at Al Arabi in Qatar, scoring 71 goals in 92 appearances.

Before returning home, Maradona had recommended renewing the contracts of Juan Ignacio Mercier and Mohammed Reza Khalatbari, and the new management of the club is studying that request.

The technical committee of the club have virtually finalised Spain as their venue for the off-season camp, though Maradona was keen to have the camp in the UAE, like last season. The Argentine legend had planned a promotional tour of China during the pre-season, where Wasl would have played a number of matches.

Elsewhere, Baniyas have turned down Ajman's loan request for their defender Fahad Feraish.

"Feraish will be a part of our squad for next season," a Baniyas statement read.

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