Dubai: Al Ain signed Slovakian winger Miroslav Stoch on a one-year loan from Turkey’s Fenerbache on Saturday.
Stoch, 24, started his career with Slovakian side Nitra in 2005 before moving to England’s Chelsea, followed by loan spells with Holland’s Twente and Greece’s POAK either side of a permanent move to Turkey in 2010. He has represented his national team on 42 occasions with four goals since 2009 and he scored nine goals in 42 appearances for POAK last season. His best domestic season to date was in 2011/12 where he scored 12 goals in 37 appearances for Fenerbache.
The Slovakian winger joins newly signed South Korean midfielder Lee Myung-joo who joined Al Ain from Poohang Steelers last month on a three-year deal worth $5 million [Dh18.3 million].
Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan is the only player retained by Al Ain after the departures of Moroccan midfielder Yassine Ghanassy, Romanian midfielder Mirel Radoi and Australian striker Alex Brosque.
Al Ain also own Congolese-striker Jires Kembo-Ekoko and Brazilian winger Michel Bastos, both of whom spent last season on loan to Qatar’s Al Jaish and Italy’s Roma respectively. It is yet to be confirmed who will fill coach Zlatko Dalic’s fourth foreign player vacancy, with Kembo-Ekoko and Bastos both tipped for departures.
Meanwhile, Eric Gerets’ Al Jazira completed the signings of Montenegrin striker Mirko Vucinic and Burkinabe winger Jonathan Pitroipa on Friday.
Vucinic, 30, joins on a €6.3 million (Dh31.5 million) move from Italy’s Juventus in a three-year deal worth €5 million a season plus €1 million in bonuses. And Pitroipa, 28, joins from France’s Rennes, in an undisclosed deal.
Vucinic is formerly of Montenegro’s Sutjeska Niksic, and Italy’s Lecce and Roma, and has represented both the Serbia and Montenegro and the Montenegrin national teams with a combined 17 goals in 44 appearances since 2005. His best domestic season was in 2004/05 where he scored 22 goals in 31 appearances for Lecce. Last season he scored two in 16 appearances for Juventus.
Pitroipa is formerly of Germany’s Freiburg and Hamburg and has scored eight in 42 appearances for Burkino Faso since 2006, winning the player of the tournament at last year’s African Nations. His best domestic season was in 2012/13 when he scored seven goals in 32 appearances for Rennes. Last season he failed to score in 23 appearances for the club.
Vucinic and Pitroipa’s arrival completes the club’s foreign quartet with Brazilian midfielder Jucilei Da Silva and Moroccan midfielder Abdul Aziz Barrada both retained. Jucilei has obtained Palestinian citizenship to assume the Asian allocation left by outgoing South Korean defender Shin Hyung-min.
