UAE champions Al Ain have signed former Dynamo Kyiv, Borussia Dortmund and West Ham United winger Andriy Yarmolenko.
The Ukraine international, who sits second in his country’s all-time goalscoring charts, has agreed a deal with the Garden City club through until the end of the 2022/23 season.
Al Ain announced the addition on Wednesday, with Yarmolenko telling the club’s supporters via video on social media: “Hello Al Ain fans. I’m happy to join this big club. I promise you to fight for this t-shirt.”
Yarmolenko, 32, left West Ham last month having spent four seasons with the Premier League side. After joining from Dortmund in 2018, the Ukrainian went on to score 13 goals and register seven assists in 86 competitive matches.
Yarmolenko has 109 caps for Ukraine, scoring 45 goals – second only to Andriy Shevchenko (48). He represented his country at the past three European Championships, in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
At Al Ain, Yarmolenko links up with compatriot Serhiy Rebrov, who in his debut campaign last season guided the club to a 14th UAE league title. Last month, Rebrov extended his contract with Al Ain for another season.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
