Bani Yas’ extensive and ambitious summer rebuild has continued apace with the capture of South Africa playmaker Ayanda Patosi on a one-season loan deal from Cape Town City.
Patosi, 26, excelled during the first half of the year at Iran giants Esteghlal. His four goals and seven assists from 19 appearances under Winfried Schafer, 69, saw the German coach aggressively pursue a reunion upon arrival in Abu Dhabi.
The exciting new addition – for whom a permanent option has been negotiated – twice claimed the Belgium Cup at Lokeren from 2011-17, before returning home to CTC.
A superb sixth-placed finish was secured in 2018/19 by the Sky Blues upon their return to the Arabian Gulf League. But they could not agree a new contract with Croatian tactician Krunoslav Jurcic, leading to a situation where only prolific Spanish striker Pedro Conde is expected to be retained from the four-player foreign quota.
Superb Brazilian defensive midfielder Luis Antonio, 28, was procured from Saudi Professional League-outfit Al Shabab earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Chile midfielder Esteban Pavez departed for Al Nasr on Sunday and admitted it “hurts” to leave Colo-Colo.
A $2.1 million deal has been agreed to bring the Copa America star to Al Maktoum Stadium.
“It hurts me to leave Colo-Colo, because it’s a club that I love, but I have to watch over my future,” he told La Tercera. “I’m 29-years old.”
Sweden striker Marcus Berg has joined Russia’s FC Krasnodar on a one-year deal after a sorry end to his Al Ain career.
