Al Ahli down play talk of imminent Aimar swoop

Al Ahli director of football Roy Aitken has rejected talk that a deal for Benfica playmaker Pablo Aimar is imminent, insisting the club are in "no rush" to sign any more players.

Aimar, 33, has been heavily linked with a move to the Rashid Stadium after Aitken revealed last week that Ahli had been in contact with the Argentine over a move to the UAE.

Media reports in Portugal had even suggested that Aimar's appearance in Benfica's 2-2 draw with Porto could be his last at the club ahead of a move to the Pro League.

However, Aitken insists that is "too presumptious" and reiterated that Ahli are happy with their squad following the recent high-profile acquisition of former Barcelona and Chelsea winger, Ricardo Quaresma.

"At the moment there is not much we can say on the Aimar situation," Aitken told Sport360°.

"He is a player the president is interested in, but equally there is no rush to make any more changes at this stage.

"That could change as we go through the rest of the transfer window. But at this stage we are just sitting tight with what we have."

Ahli coach Quique Sanchez Flores was rather more guarded in his response, although he too, was equally dismissive of claims Aimar was nearing a move to Dubai.

“I don’t want to speak about Aimar because he is not a player of Al Ahli,” the Spaniard on Monday night.

“At the moment we have Grafite, Quaresma and (Luis) Jimenez as our foreign players, I was with Aimar at Benfica and I know a lot about him but I don’t want to speak.”

Aimar is into his fifth season with Benfica since joining the Portuguese giants from Real Zaragonza in 2008, and has gone on to score 17 goals in 167 appearances for the club.

It was at River Plate where the mercurial playmaker first made his name, breaking into the first-team in 1996-1997 before enjoying spells with Valencia and Zaragona in Spain.

He has also been capped 52 times by Argentina, scoring eight goals.

 

 

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