Bonamigo is like Sir Alex Ferguson to us: Al Merri

Dubai: The chief executive of Al Shabab Club has said coach Paulo Bonamigo is key to the future of the club — like Sir Alex Ferguson is important to Manchester United.

Saeed Al Merri revealed Bonamigo has been offered a new one-year contract following a successful two-and-a-half-year stint with the club.

In the season just gone, Al Shabab won the Gulf Clubs Cup, reached the final of the Etisalat Cup and then ended third in the Etisalat Pro League to qualify for the AFC Champions League for a second time.

While the Brazilian would need to go some to match Ferguson's stunning longevity in the game, Al Merri suggested retaining him as coach kept stability at the forefront of the club's culture.

He said: "To us, Bonamigo is what Alex Ferguson is to Manchester United. As the coach he knows our limitations and strong points and both the club and coach understand each other perfectly. Therefore, we see no reason why we should let him go when he has done such a good job here."

He went on: "The magic word is stability in the team at all levels. We need stability in the squad of players, stability in the technical staff and also in the management side.

Logical step

"We achieved fair results this season, and we need to ensure we take the next logical step forward and do even better next year."

The club have offered new three-year contracts to Brazilian star Jociel Ferreira (Ciel) and Uzbekistan's Azizbek Hydarov while retaining brilliant playmaker Carlos Villanueva, who is recovering from knee surgery.

They are currently considering whether to offer a new contract to their fourth foreign player, Keiza.

Key UAE players would also be retained, Al Merri admitted, while additions to the squad would be targeted.

He said: "We are on the lookout for new players who will help us achieve even bigger goals next season."

Achievement

For his part, Bonamigo echoed Al Merri's sentiments, stressing the need to build on what has already been achieved at the club.

He said: "We need to give ourselves a chance of competing for the league title until the end, and for this we need to stabilise our set-up. It is not that we will be starting from zero next season. We have made progress this year, and once we return we will consolidate and build on what we have done."

Bonamigo said he was particularly keen to add some young faces to the squad.

In the meantime, he and his players will take a break until pre-season preparations on July 21.