Agyeman Opoku's Al-Wahda Deal Collapses

Agyeman Opoku's proposed transfer from Al-Sadd to Al-Wahda has collapsed. The UAE side have pulled out of the signing of the Ghanaian forward as he will spend a large part of the season on international duty.

Opoku, 20, has been included in the Ghana squad for the Under-20 World Cup and is afterwards expected to make the step up to the senior team, raising the prospect of him being unavailable in January due to the African Cup of Nations.

“We have run into a severe problem. It is unfortunate Opoku will not be able to spend full time with us because of national duty,” Al-Wahda deputy CEO Khaled Awadh told a press conference.

“We are happy for the player but at the same time the crisis of finding a new player has deepened. We were already behind time in completing signing our trio of overseas players.

“It takes time for any player to adapt to a new team and new environment, but we have no other choice than to keep looking for a player who can hopefully gel with the squad as quickly as possible.”

Al-Wahda had earlier pulled off a major coup in signing last season’s leading scorer, Baiano, who spent the year on loan at city rivals Al-Jazira from Real Murcia. In addition, they have retained midfielder Pinga for a third year.