Al Wasl’s Fabio De Lima was crowned the 2016/17 Arabian Gulf League’s best foreign player on Monday night. He spoke to John McAuley about his future, his international ambitions and Wasl’s title aspirations next season.
Deserved award
De Lima merited being recognised as the league’s best foreign player this season, scoring 25 goals to help Wasl finish second — their best result in the professional era. The Brazilian’s haul also sealed another runner-up spot: only Al Jazira’s Ali Mabkhout scored more goals (33) in the 2016/17 campaign. Once again, De Lima’s future is subject to much speculation heading into the summer.
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On his current situation
“I’m very happy to stay here in Al Wasl, but you know football moves so fast,” De Lima said. “I have some offers from outside the UAE, but now I’ll go on my vacation. I want to stay here, but it doesn’t just depend on me, it depends on Al Wasl. If Al Wasl need me here, I’ll stay here. I have some good offers, like from China, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and my family depends on me.”
On negotiations with Wasl
“My agent will call the committee next week now that the season is finished,” he said. “I don’t know what they will do, but I’ll wait until my agent calls me and we’ll speak about some things I want. But for now I concentrate on Al Wasl. I think I’ll stay, but it depends on the club. If they don’t speak to me I will leave, but if they speak to me to stay, I’ll stay. Because I like the club and the fans so much.”
On European/international ambitions
“All players want to play in Europe,” he said. “I’m 23 — very young for a footballer. I want to play in Europe and I have some offers from there, but until now I have a contract here. In three or four years I want to go back to Brazil because I want to play for the national team. I think it’s possible, that I have the quality to play for the national team. But my mentality is to continue here. It depends on Al Wasl.”
On winning the AGL next season
“Yes, it’s possible,” he said. “I think Al Wasl need to buy some local players because they already have some very good foreign players in me, Caio, Ronaldo [Mendes] and Serginho. But we need to bring some players here because we have four or five competitions to play and, if we have good players when we have substitutions and injuries, it’s possible to also fight to move up in the league.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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