DUBAI // Al Shabab have completed the signing of Dutch striker Ruud Boymans from Utrecht.
The frontman, 27, had agreed to a three-year contract earlier this month, but news of his arrival was announced Friday. He becomes the club’s first foreign acquisition since appointing Fred Rutten, a fellow Dutchman, as manager last month.
Boymans has spent his entire career in Holland, playing for AZ Alkmaar between 2011 and 2014. During that time he was loaned to NEC and Willem II. He enjoyed a particularly prolific spell at the latter, scoring 27 goals in 36 matches to help the club win the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football.
That secured a move to Utrecht, although injury limited Boymans to 28 league appearances in two seasons. He still managed to score 19 goals.
Erik ten Hag, the Utrecht manager, said: “With the departure of Ruud we lose scoring ability. Besides the guarantee of goals we are going to miss the energy he brought into our team and the constant threat to the opponent. Nevertheless, we have helped fulfill his desire to take this opportunity. We thank Ruud for his efforts and wish him every success and enjoyment at his new club. “
Boymans may soon be joined at Shabab by a former teammate, with reports suggesting Nacer Barazite is negotiating his transfer from Utrecht also. The forward, 26, would then take Carlos Villanueva’s place in the squad after the Chilean was released at the conclusion of last season, in which Shabab finished fifth in the Arabian Gulf League.
The Dutch duo would form part of a new-look Shabab for the 2016/17 campaign, with Rutten replacing Caio Junior in the dugout and forward Henrique Luvannor the only foreign player certain to be retained. Boymans will be tasked with providing the goals that Brazilian striker Juninho Potiguar could not and hence was not kept on, while midfielder Azizbek Haydarov’s future remains uncertain.
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