Al Jazira reportedly in talks with Stoke City midfielder Stephen Ireland

Abu Dhabi club coy on negotiations with Irish midfielder, who would likely replace Thiago Neves, while UAE international Khamis Esmail rubbishes reports linking him with a swap move to Arabian Gulf League rivals Al Ahli.

Stoke City midfielder Stephen Ireland, left, has found himself on the periphery of Mark Hughes's squad in the 2015/16 season. Peter Cziborra / Action Images

ABU DHABI // Al Jazira are reportedly in talks with Stoke City’s Irish midfielder Stephen Ireland as they look to replace their Brazilian midfielder Thiago Neves during the January transfer window.

Former Manchester City player Ireland has found himself on the periphery of manager Mark Hughes’s squad this season while Neves has failed to live up to the billing he enjoyed at Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal since arriving in Abu Dhabi last summer.

Al Jazira, who are 10th in the Arabian Gulf League, refused to confirm if they were in talks with Ireland although it is believed negotiations with the player are at an advanced stage.

"There is some negotiations going on with some players but we cannot reveal anything more than that because we need to respect their confidentiality," a club official said when contacted by The National on Sunday.

“This is not unusual during the transfer period. It happens all the time: sometimes it works and sometimes it breaks down. We will announce once everything is clear.”

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Ireland, 29, has not featured in a Premier League game for Stoke since a substitute appearance against Swansea City in October and could be tempted by a move that would undoubtedly grant him more game time.

Ireland joined Manchester City in 2005 and has also had spells at Aston Villa and Newcastle United before moving to Stoke, initially on loan, in 2013. He is contracted at the Britannia Stadium until 2017.

His career, which has seen him capped at every age-group for Republic of Ireland, winning six international caps with the senior side, has often been dogged by controversy.

In 2007 he was at the centre of a bizarre episode where his girlfriend phoned him while he was away on international duty claiming Ireland’s maternal grandmother had died. The Ireland coaching staff granted him compassionate leave only to discover that she was alive and well. Ireland then changed his story, saying it was in fact his paternal grandmother that had died. Again, this proved to be untrue. The story changed a third time, with Ireland claiming the wife of one of his grandfathers, who was divorced, had died. This again was proved to be a lie.

Jazira have already made two changes to their foreign quartet under new Dutch manager Henk ten Cate. Trinidad & Tobago striker Kenwyne Jones has been signed on loan from Cardiff City as a replacement for last season’s injured top scorer Mirko Vucinic and midfielder Angel Lafita has joined from Spanish club Getafe to fill the void left by the injured Jefferson Farfan.

Neves scored in Ten Cate’s first game in charge last month, a 2-2 draw away to Al Wasl, but has mostly disappointed during his seven months at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

Meanwhile, Jazira’s UAE international midfielder Khamis Esmail has rubbished reports linking him with a move to Al Ahli. Local media had reported over the weekend that Esmail’s move would be a swap deal with Habib Fardan and Eisa Ahmed moving the other way.

“There is absolutely no truth that I will leave Jazira,” said Esmail when asked if he or his club were in talks with Ahli.

“This gossip, which I would describe it as, first started to appear four days ago in the social media and a lot of people have been talking about. That’s all, but no truth.”

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