Dubai: Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida looks set to replace disgraced Senegalese forward Ebrahima Toure at Al Nasr.
Toure, 28, punched Bani Yas defender Mohammad Al Jaber in the opening game of the Arabian Gulf League season this month and was handed a four match ban plus a Dh200,000 fine from the UAE Football Association. Al Nasr have also fined Toure 30 per cent of his salary and suspended him indefinitely.
Free agent Almeida, 30, formerly of Portugal’s Porto, Germany’s Werder Bremen and Turkey’s Besiktas, is now in Dubai completing formalities for a one-year deal.
Al Nasr will, meanwhile, look to loan Toure out to interested clubs. The former Monaco striker has been out of favour since he failed to turn up to pre-season training on time this summer.
Toure famously scored 14 goals in 16 appearances for Ajman in the 2011/12 season before moving to Monaco where he scored 28 goals in 52 appearances. Since joining Al Nasr last summer, Toure has scored 19 in 26 appearances and was considered a key player for the club.
Almeida scored 15 goals in 33 appearances for Besiktas last season and made this summer’s Fifa World Cup squad for Portugal but came off injured 28 minutes into their opening 4-0 loss to Germany. Almeida’s best scoring form came in 2007/08 where he scored 16 goals in 36 appearances for Werder Bremen.
Elsewhere, Al Ahli have signed UAE national team and Al Wahda defender Eisa Santo, and remain on the lookout for a foreign striker to replace Brazilian forward Jociel Ferreira, who broke his ankle in The Red Knights’ opening game of the season away to Sharjah.
