Abu Dhabi: Bani Yas announced the arrival of Jesus Garcia Pitarch as their new sporting director on Tuesday.
The 50-year-old Spaniard was previously the director of football at Spanish La Liga giants Valencia and Atletico Madrid, working alongside coach Rafael Benitez at Los Che and recruiting the likes of Diego Forlan at El Madrigal.
Pitarch joins on a two-year contract and will complement fellow Spaniard Luis Garcia, 41, from Getafe, who replaced Iraq’s Adnan Hamad as coach last week.
Bani Yas are also said to be on the verge of signing Portuguese defender Ricardo Costa, 33, who is a free agent after leaving Valencia this summer.
The club will be looking to move on from a disappointing ninth place finish in the 14-team Arabian Gulf League last season.
Meanwhile, newly promoted Fujairah are reportedly in pursuit of Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra, 31, who is a free agent following his release from Qatar’s Lekhwiya.
The news follows mixed reports that Chilean midfielder Jorge Valdivia, 30, has cancelled his move to Fujairah from Brazil’s Palmeiras. Both Bougherra and Valdivia represented their respective national teams at the recent World Cup in Brazil.
Elsewhere, Al Wasl have signed Brazilian midfielder Fabio Virginio de Lima, 21, from Brazil’s Atletico Goianiense. Lima is Al Wasl’s second signing by Brazilian coach Jorginho following the acquisition of Brazilian striker Neto Berola, 26, from Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro last month.
Jorginho’s future at the club is uncertain following reports linking him with a return to the Brazil national team set-up as an assistant coach to Dunga, who is hotly tipped to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Dunga and Jorginho were teammates in the 1994 World Cup-winning squad and worked as coach and assistant of the Brazil national team from 2006 to 2010, winning the 2007 Copa America and 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup.
