Al Jazira sign Fernandinho to replace Bare

Al Jazira have signed striker Luiz Fernando Periera da Silva (Fernandinho) to replace fellow Brazilian Bare for next season. The President’s Cup holders are looking to strengthen their squad after failing to defend the Etisalat Pro League they won for the first time in 2010-11. Both Bare and Australian defender Lucas Neill have left the club. Fernandinho, 27, underwent a medical in London on Wednesday and is expected to join the team to prepare for the new season. “We believe that Fernandinho is the best player to play alongside Ricardo Oliveira and lead us to the success both domestically and in the AFC Champions League in the new season.” Hamad Al Suwaidi, chairman of the club’s professionalism committee and supervisor of football, told Gulf News on Thursday.“The team will organise a friendly tournament next month with the participation of other three clubs from the GCC states and our matches will be on August 9, 12 and 15 to help our new coach Paulo Bomamigo to select his first line-up. “The team will travel to Austria to hold their external training camp from August 25 after the end of Ramadan.” Al Suwaidi confirmed a further signing of an Asian player would be announced shortly. “We are looking for a pivot midfielder and we have almost finished our negotiations in this regard and we will announce more details soon,” he said. from gulfnews.com