Cosmin Olaroiu has challenged fit-again star Ciel to prove his worth at Al Ahli ahead of the new Arabian Gulf League season – and insists the club won’t rush into making new signings.
There are potentially two slots to fill in the Red Knights’ four-man foreign quota after the departure of Luis Jimenez to Al Nasr, while former Liverpool and Stoke winger Oussama Assaidi is expected to leave after a poor debut campaign at the Rashid Stadium.
Ahli have retained South Korean midfielder Kyung-Won Kwon and Brazilian attacker Everton Ribeiro, who went to the Copa America with the Selecao.
Compatriot Ciel lit up the AGL during three goal-laden seasons with Al Shabab, and took that form to Ahli in 2013/14 as Olariou’s men eased to the title.
However, a broken ankle in the very first game of last season saw the 33-year-old miss almost the entire campaign. That has put his future at the club in serious doubt, but Olaroiu insists the door is not yet shut.
“Ciel is one solution we have right now,” Olaroiu said last night. “We will see him in the next few games. His performances at the end of the season were good but he couldn’t play many games. We’ll see the performances in pre-season then we will take a decision.”
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Ahli travel to Italy for a training camp later this month, where they will play friendlies against Serie A giants Napoli on July 30 and newly-promoted Carpi on August 8.
They then face Iran’s Naft Tehran in a two-legged Asian Champions League quarter-final on August 26 and September 16.
The 46-year-old Olaroiu admits the club are in the market for new players – particularly a proven striker – but he is only targeting those with passion and desire to play for the Red Knights.
“There will be some changes of course, whether players are signing or moving on,” he said. “We don’t want to sign players just to say we have them, we want players with motivation to play for this club, who have spirit and want to fight.
“It’s easy to find players but we need to find the ones who want to play for the jersey.” Olaroiu, who managed Al Ain to successive AGL title successes in 2012 and 2013, was thought to be at risk of being sacked after Ahli’s nosedive from AGL champions in 2014 to a meek seventh place last season.
But he believes that renewing his contract this summer was the “natural” thing to do after results improved towards the end of 2014/15.
“It was obvious last season we have been through difficult times but we’re still together and we will hopefully come through those difficult stages,” he added.
“Of course I had other offers, maybe more lucrative ones, but we are working as a team. I heard lots of rumours about sums involved but there were no negotiations about money, just renewing the contract.”
“There were no negotiations about money, just renewing the contract. If anyone asks me about the contract I swear I don’t know what’s in it.”
