Fujairah’s talks with Chile international Jorge Valdivia fall through

Arabian Gulf League club and player fail to agree personal terms, writes John McAuley.

Chile's Jorge Valdivia, left, will not be playing for Fujairah after all. Frank Augstein / AP Photo

Fujairah have confirmed their move to bring Jorge Valdivia to the club is off after they failed to agree personal terms with the player. The Chilean playmaker, who represented Al Ain for two seasons from 2008, was said to have completed the transfer last Thursday from Palmeiras, the Brazilian first-division side, with Fujairah releasing pictures of Valdivia in the club’s colours.

At the time, the Fujairah board heralded the capture of the 2014 World Cup star – he played in three of Chile’s four matches in Brazil – and said they anticipated Valdivia would put the newly promoted Arabian Gulf League side “on the map”.

However, the midfielder, 30, quickly left the UAE to return to Brazil, leading to speculation there was a problem with the deal. Rumours are the player received a more lucrative offer from another club, although that has yet to be verified.

Fujairah said Monday night they expected Valdivia to sign, but last night they posted news on their official Twitter account that the big-money transfer – it was reportedly worth US$7.5 million (Dh27.5m) – had been cancelled. Fujairah’s officials were unavailable for comment, and Valdivia’s agent could not be reached.

Valdivia’s next move remains unknown, although Al Wasl had been mooted as a potential destination. Yet when asked Wednesday if they were interested in recruiting Valdivia, Mohammed Obaidallah, the Wasl team manager, said: “No, there is nothing at all. He’s an expensive player anyway, so we cannot offer his terms.”

Obaidallah added that Wasl had never expressed an interest in Valdivia.

A switch to Al Ahli, the reigning UAE champions, has also been rumoured, but the Dubai club say they are happy with their current foreign contingent.

At present, they have six players vying for four expatriates spots, with the Rashid Stadium side assessing which quartet to register for next season.

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