The proposed deal to bring Diego Forlan, the Uruguayan international striker, to Al Wasl on loan next season has fallen through, the club confirmed today.
“I received a final answer from Atletico Madrid who regrettably told me that they could not loan us their player for a year," said Marwan bin Bayat, the Wasl chairman.
Al Wasl, who have recently appointed Diego Maradona as head coach, had hoped to bring the experienced Forlan on loan from the Spanish giants Atletico Madrid as the club's first marquee signing.
The 31-year-old Forlan had agreed to join Wasl in principle, the Dubai club revealed yesterday, but Atletico have not agreed to release their striker — who scored eight goals in the Primera Liga last season — for a whole year.
Bin Bayat says the club will continue the search to find a key striker, now the Forlan deal has broken down.
“Now the direction has changed," bin Bayat said. "Now we have to think about someone like a true striker; someone who loves scoring goals. This is my definition of who we should get.
“We have certain names in mind. I can’t mention then because they have their own contracts now with their own clubs and we respect that, however, we are having negotiations every day with players and clubs. We just need a yes from someone.”
ncameron@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
More coverage from the Future Forum
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
