Al-Ittihad Club management has set up a list of alternative transfer targets in parallel with the advancement of its negotiations to sign Japanese winger Ritsu Doan of Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt and Algerian midfielder Hicham Boudaoui of France's Nice.
Hicham Boudaoui
Club: Nice
This comes about a week before the closure of the ongoing summer transfer window.
Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh clarified that negotiations with Doan and Boudaoui have made significant progress, and that the Al-Ittihad management is close to finalizing both deals. However, the tight schedule has prompted them to prepare other options for these positions to ensure they do not enter the final days of the market without ready alternatives.
The report added that if the Japanese player is officially signed, he will wear the Tigers' jersey for three seasons.
Al-Ittihad's move comes ahead of the highly anticipated match against Al-Nassr next Saturday, as part of the fifth round of the Saudi League, while the management races against time to complete the team's needs before the transfer window closes.
In the winger position, Al-Ittihad has included Chilean player Dario Osorio of Denmark's Midtjylland among the alternative options in case final agreement with Doan falls through.
As for the midfield, Al-Ittihad management's priority remains signing Boudaoui, with several alternative names on the table, led by Croatian Marcelo Brozovic, former Al-Nassr player, and Belgian Nicolas Raskin, alongside Luxembourgish Leandro Barreiro of Portugal's Benfica.
Two days ago, Saudi newspaper Al-Jazirah revealed that Al-Ittihad Club management had entered advanced negotiations with Algerian Nice player Hicham Boudaoui to sign him this summer.
The report clarified that Al-Ittihad is working to strengthen its squad during the current summer transfer window.
The report added that the Saudi team is keen to sign Boudaoui as well as Japanese Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Ritsu Doan.
The report noted that the Tigers are working to finalize both deals before the end of the Saudi transfer window on September 6 next.
Boudaoui, 26, has appeared in 207 matches for Nice since 2019, scoring 14 goals and providing 15 assists.
