Fujairah have beaten competition from English Premier League clubs Swansea City and West Bromwich to close on completing a deal to sign Algeria midfielder Hassan Yebda.
The 30-year-old is expected to imminently seal a move on a free transfer to the ambitious newly-promoted Arabian Gulf League side on a one-year contract.
Yebda, who featured in his nation’s World Cup 2014 group stage draw against Russia, has been without a club since his contract expired at La Liga's Granada earlier this summer.
Fujairah CEO Sultan Al Shara revealed the presence of Les Fennecs national captain Madjid Bougherra at the eastern emirate outfit played an influential role in the coveted player’s impending capture.
He said: “We are on the verge of agreeing a deal with Yebda, which we hope to seal this weekend.
“He is a very big player, with an excellent background playing for clubs in England, Italy and Spain. We had to compete to sign him against Swansea and West Bromwich Albion, but the presence of Madjid Bougherra helped us to convince him to join us.”
France-born Yebda will add tremendous experience to Fujairah, having previously played for leading European sides such as Benfica, Napoli and Udinese as well as enjoying a loan spell at Portsmouth in the 2009-10 season while they were in the Premier League.
His arrival completes the club’s foreign player quota, which includes Bougherra, former Al Ain hot shot Boubacar Sanogo and Lebanon international striker Hassan Maatouk.
They had previously been engaged in a failed attempt to bring Chile playmaker Jorge Valdivia back to the UAE, which ended with Fujairah responding resolutely to threats from agent Wagner Ribeiro that he intended to report them to world governing body FIFA.
