River starlet Lanzini seals Al Jazira move as Barrada exits

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  • New Jazira recruit: Lanzini heads to Abu Dhabi as Barrada's direct replacement.

    Exciting River Plate playmaker Manuel Lanzini is to join up with his new Al Jazira team-mates in Switzerland on Saturday, after the Pride of Abu Dhabi announced Abdelaziz Barrada has headed to French giants Marseille for a medical.

    Lanzini, 21, is set to arrive at the Mohammed bin Zayed outfit’s European training camp after a $10 million deal (Dh 36.7m) was agreed, heading off strong competition from Turkish Champions League contenders Besiktas to seal the deal.

    The bid came after influential attacking midfielder Barrada consented to a move back to his native France, bringing an end to an often breathtaking spell featuring 15 goals and 16 assists in all competitions following last summer’s €10m (Dh49.2m) move from Getafe.

    The Morocco international was initially believed to have agreed a one-year loan, but reports in his homeland have emerged stating a permanent switch on a four-year contract.

    Although Jazira are yet to officially confirm Lanzini’s arrival, the switch was revealed by Los Millionaros president Rodolfo D’Onofrio.

    “The idea was to keep everyone, but we had to sell some,” he said. “In the case of Lanzini it is not that we chose to sell, but the offer from Arabia is good and he wants to go, so we can not hold him.”

    Lanzini has scored 13 goals in 91 appearances since debuting for River in 2010, his reputation further boosted by a handful of international appearances at youth level for Argentina.

    He forms a fresh attacking line-up under new coach Eric Gerets, with the miniscule midifelder linking up with Jonathan Pitroipa to supply lethal front man Mirko Vucinic.

    River’s official Twitter account tweeted a picture of Lanzini saying goodbye to his team-mates on Friday, with the Argentine media reporting he was destined to board a plane that evening.

    Barrada has been drafted in by Marseille to fill the shoes of France star Mathieu Valbuena, who bid a tearful farewell to the Stade Velodrome after agreeing a lucrative move to Russian’s Dynamo Moscow following his exploits at the 2014 World Cup.

    Barrada follows fellow foreigners Shin Hyung-Min and Felipe Caicedo out of Jazira this summer, with Brazilian midfielder Jucilei filling the former’s Asian-player quota spot after acquiring Palestinian citizenship.

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