Al Wahda have confirmed they are willing to listen to offers for Chilean midfielder Marco Estrada.
The former Montpellier captain arrived in Abu Dhabi to great fanfare last summer but his debut season was hampered by injury, and he returned to his homeland in February following knee surgery.
Estrada had hoped he could prove his fitness in time to win a recall to Jorge Sampaoli’s Chile squad for the World Cup but ultimately the 31-year-old was overlooked.
Wahda, who replaced the midfielder in their squad with Moroccan Adil Hermach in January, are bracing themselves for bids from France now Estrada is fit again.
“We are open to receive any offers for him,” Wahda chairman Aref Al Awani said.
The Abu Dhabi club were approached by two Ligue 1 sides over the possibility of signing Estrada in the last transfer window. But given the nature of UAE football, and the fact the Chilean still has another two years to run on his Wahda contract, Al Awani admitted there was still an outside chance he could stay in the capital.
“You cannot say [for definite] here,” he added. “Here the market is different than in Europe so he may still have a chance to come back here but I think in France he will have more chance [to play].”
Estrada has been capped 33 times by Chile, and played a pivotal role as Montpellier lifted their first ever Ligue 1 title two years ago.
Meanwhile, Wahda’s city neighbours, Al Jazira, have denied they are looking to offload Ecuadorian World Cup star Felipe Caicedo.
Caicedo arrived at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in January but failed to live up to expectations, struggling for both form and fitness as he scored just five goals in all competitions.
Reports in Turkey over the weekend suggested that Jazira were ready to pay Dh74.75 for Fenerbahce striker Moussa Sow to replace him.
However, a club spokesman insisted that Caicedo – who still has two-and-a-half years to run on his contract – was happy in Abu Dhabi, and that the club were not looking to sell him.
Caicedo made his first appearance in the World Cup on Sunday, playing 70 minutes as Ecuador lost 2-1 to Switzerland in Brasilia.
