UAE Olympic star Omar Abdulrahman arrived back in the UK on Tuesday and immediately began a five-day trial with Premier League champions Manchester City.
The diminutive playmaker, who starred for the UAE in their recent outing at London 2012, flew to Manchester late on Monday night ahead of the audition, which Sport360° understands can be extended if he impresses.
And there was no rest for the rising star as he was put through his paces alongside City stars including Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez as the first team returned to training at Carrington following a pre-season tour of Europe and the Far East.
Indeed, while Al Ain, Abdulrahman’s current club, and City remained tight-lipped on the trial the player was visible to eagle-eyed fans on an image of the session on the Manchester club’s official website.
On Monday night, the excited 20-year-old had taken to Twitter to reveal what the next few weeks would have in store. “Today I travel to Manchester for the experience, professionalism and luck,” Abdulrahman tweeted.
With no more friendly matches for Roberto Mancini’s men before their Community Shield date with Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday, Abdulrahman’s only chance to impress at the Etihad Stadium will come in training.
However, this is not the first time Abdulrahman has flirted with a move abroad, having seen a potential move to Spanish side Espanyol collapse when he was just 17.
The young midfielder retains an ambition to play abroad, however, something that was only strengthened by his UAE team-mate, Hamdan Al Kamali’s time at Lyon.
Speaking prior to the Olympics, Abdulrahman said: “I wish for this because three years ago I had an offer from Espanyol but that didn’t happen for certain reasons, it was a destiny from Allah. Actually it is a dream of any player to go abroad and be a professional player.
“There isn’t a certain league that I think of because I might think I would be good in, say, the Italian league but then I might be good somewhere else.
“It is not necessarily about the country or the city itself but what is most important would be to go abroad and make it as a professional player, and to show what I can do and honour UAE football.”
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