Former Liverpool and Ajax forward Ryan Babel ‘signs two-year contract’ with Al Ain

Ryan Babel, the former Liverpool and Dutch international forward, is set to join Al Ain, the Arabian Gulf League champions. Al Ain officials were not available for comment to confirm the move, but the player’s agent, Winnie Haatrecht, was quoted in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf as saying they have “signed a contract for two years”. He added: “Ryan is now on vacation and in the beginning of July the medical test will take place.” According to the agent, the player is on a lucrative deal.

“It is clear from the contract, it speaks how much they appreciate him,” he said. If the move is confirmed by Al Ain, Babel, 28, will fill the void left by winger Miroslav Stoch after the Slovakian returned to Turkish club Fenerbahce following his season-long loan spell. At Al Ain, Babel will play with Asamoah Gyan, the Ghana international and fellow former English Premier League player for Sunderland. Gyan has played four seasons at Al Ain and scored 90 goals in 74 league matches. Al Ain last season extended their record of winning the league title to 12 but fell short in the two cup competitions and failed to go beyond the round of 16 in the Asian Champions League, where they were beaten by AGL rivals Al Ahli.

Club management has remained mum on their transfer dealings, but aside from retaining Gyan, an overhaul of their four-man foreign contingent is in progress. Babel began his professional career at Ajax, graduating from the club’s youth set-up to the senior team in 2004. He moved to Liverpool on a five-year deal in 2007 and made 142 appearances in his three-and-a-half year spell at Anfield. Babel left the Premier League club to join German side Hoffenheim for a reported fee of £8 million (Dh46.2m), signing a two-and-a-half-year deal. He returned to Ajax on a one-year deal after buying out the remaining year of his contract with Hoffenheim. He did not extend his contract at the Dutch club, deciding for a move to Kasimpasa in Turkey. Babel has 43 caps for the Netherlands, but his more recent appearance was a 3-0 defeat to Germany in 2011.

source: thenational