Veteran Greek goalkeeper Dimitrios ‘Dimi’ Konstantopoulos is being linked with a move to a Dubai club after leaving Championship side Middlesbrough.
The 40-year-old, capped once by his nation in 2011, is believed to be mulling over a lucrative 12-month deal with an as yet unnamed Arabian Gulf League club.
However, it might be in a coaching capacity as AGL rules prohibit clubs buying foreign keepers. UAE sides previously were able to include four foreign players in a matchday squad, with one being of Asian ethnicity or with an Asian qualified passport.
But rules were changed last summer allowing clubs to include up to five other players who are either UAE passport holders, players born to Emirati women, or UAE residents.
But rules remain in place stating goalkeepers must be Emirati, lending weight to the possibility that Konstantopoulos could be set for a coaching role, like former Arsenal stopper Manuel Almunia, who is a goalkeeping coach at Al Jazira.
The former AEK Athens custodian has spoken with former Boro team-mate Alvaro Negredo who is with Dubai-based Al Nasr and admitted he is already planning for when he does finally hang up his gloves.
“My plan is that I want to coach after I retire but I have not set a date for when that is,” he told the Northern Echo.
“I have done my B Licence and now I am working towards my A.”
