Dubai: France midfielder Yohan Cabaye said he was excited to be starting a new chapter after joining Al Nasr on a two-year deal following his free transfer from Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
“First of all, I would like to say thank you to everyone involved at the Crystal Palace family,” posted the 32-year-old on Instagram below a picture of him clutching an Al Nasr shirt with number seven on the back.
“You’ve been amazing with me since day one and it’s been a pleasure to work alongside you. You will always be special to me and I’ll never forget my time at Selhurst.
“Huge thank you to the fans also, if we are still in the Premier League, it’s because of your support. So thank you, I’m going to miss you and I wish you all the best this season.
“Now I’m an Al Nasr player and I’m excited to start my new chapter. New shirt, new club but same number.”
The former Lille, Newcastle United and Paris Saint Germain player scored 10 goals in 106 appearances over three seasons for Palace and was part of France’s Euro 2016 squad, which reached the final before defeat to Portugal.
Overall, he has scored four goals in 48 appearances for France since 2010, featuring in Euro 2012, (where he scored against Ukraine), World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016. Despite missing out on selection for the current France squad at this summer’s World Cup in Russia, he’s still yet to announce his international retirement. He won the league and cup double with Lille in 2011, and followed it up with PSG winning two league titles, one cup and two league cups between 2014 and 2015.
Cabaye’s signing completes Al Nasr’s foreign quartet under Serbian coach Ivan Jovanovic with him joining retained Lebanese defender Joan Oumari and new Brazilian signings Iury de Castilho, who joined from the Ukraine’s Zorya Luhansk and Samuel Rosa who joined from Hatta.
Al Nasr sacked Italian coach Cesare Prandelli midway through last season and replaced him with Jovanovic, who returned for his second spell at the club having first led them to three cup titles and the Asian Champions League quarters between 2013 and 2016.
Jovanovic eventually led them to fourth last season on his return but will now be looking to do more in his first full season back, especially that he now has the likes of Cabaye to marshal the younger players.
