United Arab Emirates Football League side Al Wasl raised some eyebrows when they announced the hiring of Diego Maradona as manager (for an absurd amount of money, of course), but they apparently weren't done making splashes. Now they're going after out-of-form Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan as well, and are apparently working on closing the deal, according to CEO Ashraf Ahmad Mohammad:
Atletico Madrid Transfer Rumors: Diego Forlan Close To Dubai Move
[Diego Forlan] is one of the big names on the line, I can’t deny that but we still haven’t closed this deal. We are working on it. We are certainly doing our best to bring top things to this country, because the UAE (United Arab Emirates) deserves it.
[Maradona] knows that we’ve signed Chilean midfielder Edson Puch, and he’s seen Francisco Yeste and Mohammad Shaiba. He’s now talking about a striker and I think that we’ve given him that opportunity
Diego Forlan became a household name after a strong 2010 World Cup that saw him voted player of the tournament, but has since struggled for form and has been linked with a move away from the club for months (Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders FC reportedly expressed an interest during the January transfer window, but nothing materialised). While Forlan's been playing poorly in La Liga, he'd still be a top player in the UAE league, although the amount of money they'd have to pay him to bring him over would be staggering.
It's unclear how much the Sergio Aguero situation would effect any possible Forlan transfer. If Atletico do lose Aguero, which seems likely considering the comments the Argentinian made on Monday, they may be less inclined to lose one of their more established players, but that might not matter if Al Wasl throw enough money at them. And if the Dubai-based team have anything, it's money.
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