Ali Daei released by Al Shabab, chased by Chinese club

AFC - FORMER AFC Player of the Year Ali Daei, recently released by Al Shabab in Dubai, is being pursued by Chinese second division side Harbin Large.

The Iranian, who won Asia’s top player award in 1999, is on the Jia B club’s wish-list after the Dubai outfit decided at the weekend to part ways with the former Bayern Munich player.

"Daei may not be in his prime anymore but his strength and experience will still be of a great help for the team,” said the club’s general manager, Li Haisheng. “I am sure he will have no problems adapting to Jia B. More importantly, he has attributes that we are looking for in a striker.

"We didn't win two of the opening four matches because the team was firing blanks in front of goal. If we had taken those points, we would have been in a better position than now," lamented the club official. The team currently are seventh in the 14-team Chinese lower division.

Haisheng denied, however, that an agreement had already been reached with the Iranian. "Daei was meant to commence negotiations with the club, so rumours of him having sealed a contract with us already is untrue. For the transfer to go through, both parties must reach an agreement. We still need to hear the views of the player."

Daei, who is 34 years-old, was released by Al Shabab after one season with the club, during which time he scored 10 times.

"Daei is one of the best strikers in the region, but his style proved not to be suitable for our tactics," said a spokesman for the Dubai club. "The contribution made by Daei to our team was limited," he added.

Al Shabab have also renewed the contract of coach Rainer Hallman. The German was appointed in December last year and has been rewarded for turning his side’s fortunes around with a new contract.