Abu Dhabi: Al Wahda head coach Laszlo Boloni became the first casualty of the season when he was sacked late on Wednesday, despite guiding his team to their first victory in the UAE Pro-League (UFL). Recovering from an embarrassing defeat in the Super Cup and an upset in the first league match, Al Wahda beat Ittihad Kalba 3-1 at home, but it was not enough to save Boloni.
The Abu Dhabi giants, who had denied plans to fire Boloni on Wednesday, were reported to have signed a contract with Brazlian coach Tite, the former coach of Al Ain, who is expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi today to finish the negotiations. Tite is expected to take over the team after a two-week break in domestic competitions.
The club's striker Modebo Diara is on the market despite scoring for his team, while the future of Ittihad Kalba's Mustapha Dapo is also in doubt.
Al Wahda have already signed a contract with Brazilian Hugo Henrique and Abdullah Saleh, the team's manager, said: "We are always looking for the best players. Diara is a good player but he needs a long time to settle and start performing as per our expectations. Unfortunately, we don't have the time and now he is for sale. We are waiting for any offers.
"This season we have many strong obligations and we want to be at our best. We are determined to honour our country's football in the Fifa World Club Cup here in Abu Dhabi and we also want to go further in the AFC Champions League and to defend our UFL title.
"Last season, our objective was to win the domestic UFL title and thus we did not give the AFC CL more emphasis, despite reaching the group stages from the play-offs. This season, our priorities have changed as we are focusing on the international commitments."
Meanwhile, Hassan Saeed, former UAE star and manager of Al Ittihad, has said that Dapo is not the ideal player to help his team achieve their goals this season.
"I am satisfied with the performance of our team, despite losing the [most recent] match. I am also satisfied with the performance of both foreign players, Abdullah Fattai and Simon, but Dapo has done nothing since joining the team."
The players' transfer window, meanwhile, will close on September 16.
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