DUBAI // Fujairah have warned their Arabian Gulf League rivals to beware their young Nigerian striker Patrick Friday Eze, who has hit the ground running for his new club with some impressive performances on the preseason tour of Austria and the Czech Republic.
Eze, 22, was the top scorer in the Serbian SuperLiga last season, scoring 15 goals in 26 matches for his promoted club Mladost Lucani, and he has carried that form over for his new employers as well, with the Nigerian twice on target in Fujairah’s last warm-up match, a 4-3 loss to Sparta Prague.
It is that rich vein of form that has prompted the club’s chief executive to predict that the 1.87m-tall African would be among the highest scorers in this season’s Arabian Gulf League, which is due to start next month.
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“All our players showed up well in the match against Sparta Prague, especially the foreign players,” Sultan Al Shara told reporters. “Christophe Mandanna and Hassan Maatouk looked good, and we saw a glimpse of what Eze can do.
“I believe Eze will be the surprise of the league this season and enjoy a prominent place in the AGL honour rolls.”
Media reports in June had claimed Eze, who started his career with Ajiya Babes and Zamfara United in his homeland before moving overseas, had signed for French Ligue 1 club Nantes after winning the top-scorer and best player award for his performances in the Serbian league last season, but the Nigerian chose to follow in the footsteps of his hero, former Al Ain striker Asamoah Gyan, and move to the UAE.
Eze, who signed a three-year contract last month, is an unabashed fan of his fellow African, who departed the Garden City after four goal-laden and trophy-filled years to join Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG last month.
After scoring twice for Mladost in a game last September Eze dedicated his goals to the Ghanaian: “I dedicate the two goals I scored away against Novi Pazar to my mentor Asamoah Gyan.
“He is my role model, the best striker on the African continent and I look forward to emulate him and also play in the same club with him.”
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