Dubai: Al Nasr have admitted their pursuit of West Bromwich Albion striker Peter Odemwingie has become complicated after fellow English Premier League clubs Fulham and Sunderland joined the race for his signature.
Uzbek-born Nigerian national Odemwingie, 32, fell out of favour at The Hawthorns in January after driving to Queens Park Rangers on transfer deadline day to try and instigate a move.
Al Nasr had a bid for £850,000 (Dh4.7 million) rejected over the weekend, with the club refusing to release the player for less than £2 million.
A source at Al Nasr told Gulf News: “Fulham and Sunderland have joined us so it’s more complicated now, but we still want to keep on negotiating.
“We think we can get him for less than £2 million but it depends on the club [Al Nasr] if they want to go higher and then it depends on the player.”
Al Nasr’s media manager, Fahid Hadi, confirmed the club were after two strikers to replace outgoing Brazilian forward Bruno Correa and Italian attacker Guiseppe Mascara. “Three or four” players are said to be on the shortlist with Odemwingie, and the process is hoped to be completed by next week before the team head to Germany for pre-season training.
The Oud Metha club had reportedly also been in pursuit of Blackburn Rovers’ Roque Santa Cruz, Monaco’s Ebrahima Toure and Besiktas’ Hugo Almeida.
Meanwhile, the Iranian press are claiming that Javad Nekounam’s proposed move to Sharjah has fallen through.
The 32-year-old former Osasuna midfielder has signed a one-year contract extension with Esteghlal after more funds were made available to the Tehran-based club. Officials at Sharjah made no comment when contacted.
