Portugal’s Sporting Braga inquires to Fujairah about midfielder Khalfan

Portuguese top-tier club Sporting Braga submitted a formal offer Thursday to Fujairah for their young midfielder, Mohammed Khalfan,21, the son of former UAE international Ali Khalfan.

Portuguese top-tier club Sporting Braga submitted a formal offer Thursday to Fujairah for their young midfielder, Mohammed Khalfan.

Khalfan, 21, is the son of former UAE international Ali Khalfan and turned heads with his performances in the Fujairah midfield last season.

He scored six goals in Division One to help his team gain promotion to the Arabian Gulf League (AGL).

However, despite his progress, the Braga approach came as a shock to the youngster.

“I am really surprised to receive an offer to play in Europe,” Khalfan said. “It is really exciting and every player dreams of playing in the top leagues in Europe. So I hope the negotiations will be completed successfully and I will be able to play in the Portuguese league.”

Officials at Fujairah confirmed the offer for Khalfan, and Sultan Al Shara, a member of the club’s board of directors, is confident there could be a positive outcome.

“We are studying the proposal seriously, and I think we are leaning towards accepting the offer in the coming days, though we know how badly we will need Khalfan’s services in the professional league,” Al Shara said, without revealing the financial aspects of the offer.

“We are not thinking about the value of the contract, especially since the player is keen to play in a European league and experience with a professional team, a team with a rich tradition.”

Ajman, meanwhile, have signed goalkeeper Motaz Abdullah on a one-year deal, giving the veteran another season in the AGL.

Abdullah, 39, started his career at Al Ain 1998 and won the 2007 Gulf Cup with the national team before moving to Al Wahda in 2009. He moved to promoted club Al Shaab in 2012, but the Sharjah club were relegated last season.

Former Al Nasr and Al Jazira manager Walter Zenga is Serbia’s first choice to take over as manager for Euro 2016 qualifying.

“We spoke to Zenga for several hours on Saturday but I still can’t say whether we are close to a deal,” FA chief Tomislav Karazdic said yesterday. “Zenga wants to come back to Europe and make an impact here, and in the next few weeks, we will know whether we will be able to recruit him.”

Interim coach Ljubinko Drulovic has been in charge of the team since February after taking over from Sinisa Mihajlovic.

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