Al Ahli linked to Swansea’s Bafetimbi Gomis, but club quiet about activity

Swansea City striker Bafetimbi Gomis is reportedly a name under consideration at Al Ahli, after the club earlier failed to convince Luiz Adriano to come to Dubai.

Bafetimbi Gomis scores for Swansea City against 1860 Munich on Saturday in a pre-season friendly in Germany. Michaela Rehle / Action Images / Reuters / July 18, 2015

Swansea City's Bafetimbi Gomis is the latest striker to be linked with Al Ahli.

The Dubai club's search for a high-profile forward continues following Luiz Adriano's decision earlier this month to turn down the Arabian Gulf League side and swap Shakhtar Donetsk for AC Milan instead.

The Brazilian remains the only target Ahli have openly confirmed bidding for. They have been credited with a significant interest in Napoli’s Eduardo Vargas and Fenerbahce’s Moussa Sow, although the players are said to favour moves to Valencia and Sunderland, respectively. Sow is still an option, though.

Reports in England now claim Gomis has emerged as the lead candidate to spearhead Ahli’s attack next season, with the 2013/14 UAE champions rumoured to have offered £6 million (Dh34.2m) for the 29-year-old Frenchman.

Gomis, a free transfer last summer from Lyon, has struggled to make a regular first-team spot his own and is therefore thought to be open to continuing his career away from the Liberty Stadium.

However, while The National understands Gomis is one of the names considered by Ahli, the club have yet to confirm an approach has been made. Swansea would reportedly be reluctant to lose the striker after he enjoyed a decent second half to last season despite initially disappointing. Gomis, a French international, scored five goals in the final six matches of the 2014/15 Premier League campaign.

Ahli are in the market for potentially two foreign players, with the futures of Oussama Assaidi and Ciel uncertain. Everton Ribeiro and Kwon Kyung-won have been retained.

Ahli frustrated in front of goal last season, surrendering their league crown to finish seventh in the table. With 35 goals scored, they were the least potent of the division’s top eight sides.

They begin their 2015/16 campaign in four weeks’ time at home to Fujairah before travelling to Iran on August 26 for the first leg of their Asian Champions League quarter-final against Naft Tehran.

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