Ajman made the biggest splashes on a quiet summer transfer deadline day in the Arabian Gulf League with their captures of forwards Bubacarr Trawally and Rashed Al Hajri.
Trawally, 24, joined the Orange Brigade after a short spell at Al Shabab included three goals in 11 Saudi Professional League run-outs. The Gambian replacement for unconvincing Nigerian forward Godwin Mensha had emerged as a talent of some repute after he scored 37 times in 83 Chinese Super League matches for Yanbian Funde and Guizhou Zhicheng from 2016-18.
Al Hajri, also 24, will be aiming to kick-start a once-promising career that stalled badly at Al Wasl. He made only one top-flight appearance in three seasons at Zabeel Stadium upon arrival from – now defunct – Al Shaab.
Elsewhere, promoted Khor Fakkan ditched Brazilian striker Pedro Junior, 32, from their four-player foreign quota and drafted in Uzbekistan international Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov, 28, from Lokomotiv Tashkent. In the domestic market, Bani Yas have wrestled 22-year-old forward Mohammed Al Hammadi from neighbours Al Wahda.
Junior had failed to find the back of the net in two AGL starts this term. Worries about a lack of goals from the Eagles saw them land a striker who also featured for Croatia’s Hadjuk Split and Qatar’s Al Sailiya.
Statistics released by the UAE Football Associations showed that 640 transfers, in the various categories for AGL and First Division League-outfits, were made from July 9-September 30. The 2020 winter transfer window will open on January 7 and close on February 3.
