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LONDON: Pro League club Al-Ahli Saudi have won the race to sign Partizan Belgrade’s Brazilian striker Leonardo da Silva Souza for €4m ($4.75m) ahead of UAE-based duo Al Ain and Al Nasr.
The Jeddah club confirmed the signing on the the club’s twitter feed.
The 25-year-old forward’s 24 goals in 34 appearances for Partizan last term had alerted a number of west Asian sides to his services and KSA’s Al-Ahli beat off some stiff competition in the GCC to secure his signature.
Prior to his one-season stay in Serbia, Leonardo had spells in Russia (Anzhi Makhachkala — 2014-2016), Azerbaijan (Gabala — 2013-2014), Ukraine (Metalurh Donetsk — 2013) and Cyprus (Enosis Neon Para 2012-2013).
He turned out 31 times for both Anzhi Makhachkala and Gabala, netting on eight and seven occasions respectively.
Leonardo played 20 games in total for Enosis Neon Paralimni and Metalurh Donetsk, with a return of six goals — five in Cyprus and one in Ukraine.
He cut his teeth at Matsubara in his native country before joining the youth team of Belgium’s Beerschot (2011-2012).
Meanwhile, it would appear the clock is ticking down on Al Ain star man Omar Adbulrahman’s proposed move to Ligue 1 side Nice.
The French club have reportedly given ‘The Boss’ a deadline of this weekend to determine whether or not they will accept their offer for the Riyadh-born UAE international.
It had been widely speculated that Dutch player Wesley Sneijder would be an alternative acquisition for Nice if the negotiations over Abdulrahman did not come to fruition.
However, it would appear that tentative transfer talk can be filed under ‘fake news’ and false information, with Sneijder’s representative Guido Albers — who was in attendance at Nice’s UEFA Champions League third qualifying round clash with Ajax last month — telling L’Equipe:
“I was present during the match against Ajax on Wednesday because I take care of some players at the club.
“I found the stadium and the fans to be fantastic, but we have not discussed Wesley at all with the leaders of Nice.
“Maybe there will be interest later, but there is absolutely nothing.”
Sneijder himself seemed relatively open-minded in an interview he gave to beIN Sports after his contract at Turkey’s Galatasaray was terminated a year early.
“I don’t have any future plans yet,” he said. “I’ll go to Amsterdam and, from there, I will check what I will do.
“At the moment, I don’t have any plans but I trust in my qualities. Something will come for sure.