Cosmin Olaroiu calm on Al Ahli’s striker search despite new season looming large

Ahli have been in the market for a top-class forward since last summer, but have yet to strike in this transfer window.

Cosmin Olaroiu is in no hurry about getting a new striker ahead of the Arabian Gulf League season. Satish Kumar / The National

DUBAI // Cosmin Olaroiu said Al Ahli are negotiating with a number of clubs to resolve their search for a striker, although he stressed the Dubai side will not be rushed into making an acquisition.

Ahli have been in the market for a top-class forward since last year, but have yet to complete a deal thus far in the summer transfer window. Earlier this month, they missed out on Luiz Adriano after the Shakhtar Donetsk frontman chose to sign for AC Milan instead.

Time appears to be in short supply, since Ahli begin their 2015/16 campaign in six weeks and then have the crucial Asian Champions League quarter-final first leg away to Naft Tehran on August 26.

However, Olaroiu insisted Ahli will do business only once they are certain the most suitable candidate is available.

“There will be some changes of course, whether by making signings or players who will move out,” said the Romanian, who this weekend returned from his off-season break. “In the last period, the coaching staff and the management were always in touch, but we’re not simply trying to sign players just for the sake of it.

“We need to sign players who have motivation to play for this club, who give everything, who have the spirit of sacrificing for the team. Of course it’s easy to find players, but it shouldn’t be to just put his name on the jersey and to participate.

“We’re not looking for that and that’s why we’re being very patient. We’re in negotiations with more than one club and by the time we travel to start our camp outside the UAE maybe everything will be clear. But we’re going to sign only what we need.”

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Last season, champions Ahli stumbled through their Arabian Gulf League title defence, finishing seventh. Their troubles stemmed from a lack of goals, with the Rashid Stadium side finding the net 35 times - the worst tally of the division’s top eight teams.

At present, UAE international Ahmed Khalil represents the only obvious option to lead the line, while the club potentially seek two new foreign recruits. Everton Ribeiro and Kwon Kyung-won will continue next season, although the futures of Oussama Assaidi and Ciel remain uncertain. Ciel suffered a broken ankle at the beginning of last season and will be given the next few weeks to prove he can recapture the form that convinced Ahli to sign him from Al Shabab in 2013. Meanwhile, former captain Luis Jimenez completed his transfer to Al Nasr last week.

Yet perhaps Ahli’s most astute signing this summer has been Olaroiu’s contract extension, which keeps him at the club until 2018. The former Al Ain coach, who has also managed with success in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, agreed to the new deal last month, putting an end to speculation he was set for a return to the Saudi Pro League.

“Renewing the contract is something natural - it shows how united we are, that we are one team,” said Olaroiu, who in the past four years in UAE football has three times led teams to the league title. “Of course, I had offers, some maybe more lucrative.

“But we are working as a team: the management, the coaches, the players and the president. We’re all one team. We were very close to each other in the last period and it was obvious that last season we went through a lot of difficult phases, but we stood together and everyone did the work they were supposed to.

“And together we were able to get through those. This was one of the most important reasons in me taking my decision.

“The second reason is that I believe in the team I have, that the group still have room to improve and I’m confident they can get better results than what they have already. I heard a lot of rumours about sums involved, but there was only renewing the contract. There were no negotiations about money. If anybody asks me what’s in the contract I couldn’t tell you.”

Ahli returned to pre-season training on Saturday night, before they depart after Eid for a training camp in Italy. There, they will play a series of friendly matches, although as of yet only two fixtures have been confirmed: Napoli on July 30 and then Carpi on August 8. They begin their domestic league season on August 19 or 20.

Ahli’s most recent match was last month’s agonising President’s Cup final defeat to Nasr. They were 1-0 up until Kwon’s 89th-minute own goal sent the clash into extra-time, with Nasr emerging victorious in the penalty shootout.

“Our goal next season is the league and the cup,” Olaroiu said. “We should focus more on those. We’ll try our best. In the last two seasons we’ve played two President’s Cup finals, and the last was very unfortunate in that we conceded a goal in the last minute. So after losing two finals we hope in the next one we reach the final and win it.

“This is going to be one of the toughest seasons. Most of the teams are stronger and so it’s going to be very competitive. For us, we have to only be stronger among ourselves, to push our limits. We’re used to doing this and we believe we can achieve these things.”

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