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#360transfers: Al Shabab announce signing of Brazil World Cup forward Jo

#360transfers: Al Shabab announce signing of Brazil World Cup forward Jo

Al Shabab have rounded out their foreign-player quota with the addition of former Manchester City and Brazil centre forward Jo on a three-year deal.

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The Hawks announced the arrival of the controversial 28-year-old on their Twitter account, filling the one spot opened up by their desire to dispense with misfiring front man Edgar Bruno.

The move ends a sorry recent spell at Atletico Mineiro for Jo, who went more than a year without scoring a goal prior to May’s Campeonato Mineiro final against Caldense and fell out with club management thanks to a series of disciplinary issues.

He does boast international pedigree, however, making three appearances on home soil at the 2014 World Cup. In total, he has scored five goals in 20 Canarinho matches.

Jo will slot in alongside the retained non-Emirati trio of forward Henrique Luvannor, playmaker Carlos Villanueva and central midfielder Azizbek Haydarov who performed so adeptly during the club’s run to third place in the Arabian Gulf League.

Shabab hope their new signing will provide the quality and composure which went missing under Edgar in 2014/15, ahead of a campaign which sees entry into the preliminary rounds of the AFC Champions League.

Edgar dropped to only eight goals in 25 top-flight matches last term, after registering tallies of 14 in 23 during 2012/13 and 15 in 22 during 2013/14. His previous form and continuing ability to play as a target man – eight assists were registered last season – has seen interest lodged in him by Chinese Super League and South Korean K-League outfits.

Replacement Jo has enjoyed a mixed career. He made his name at Corinthians and CSKA Moscow, prior to a £19 million (Dh109m) move to City in 2008 which brought just one Premier League goal in 21 appearances. Two loan spells at Everton and one at Galatasaray were carried out until he was granted a permanent exit to Internacional in 2011.

The tall striker failed to inspire initially back in his homeland, a burst of form following a 2012 move to Mineiro seeing him back in the Brazil fold. Jo exits Galo with 17 goals in 69 appearances.

Meanwhile, one Brazil star unlikely to be making the switch to the AGL is Robinho after Guanghzhou Evergrande intensified their pursuit of him.

Robinho, 31, was offered a two-year contract with wages of $4.5m per year by Bani Yas. But the forward, who is a free agent after failing to agree a permanent move to Santos following the early termination of his AC Milan deal, is now expected to reunite with former Canarinho head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari in China on reported wages of €12m (Dh48.8m) per year.


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