Al Ain insist Emmanuel Emenike did not do enough to prove his worth to the United Arab Emirates club, hence they decided to send the former Super Eagles striker packing on Wednesday.

The Abu Dhabi outfit on Tuesday completed the signing of Brazilian striker Douglas after they agreed to pay his €3.9m asking price from Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Al Ain confirmed they decided to buy Douglas, whose 21 goals fired Sanfrecce Hiroshima to the J-League title, to the club to replace Emenike. The South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner was pushed out of the exit door along with former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel.

Emenike will now return to Fenerbahce.

“I want to say thank you to Emenike and Babel for the last six months with us,” Al Ain boss Zlatko Dalic was quoted by The National as saying on Wednesday.

“I wish them all the best next season at a new club. This is football, this is life. Also, we did everything that our fans wanted of us.”

Al Ain board member Mohammed Hamdoun said both players were not fully committed to the club.

Hamdoun maintains Emenike was a disappointment, saying the striker did not live up to expectations.

“I saw Emenike in the World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria and he was a good player. But when he came here he scored only seven (league) goals, with the local players we have here? Enough,” the Al Ain chief, who confirmed the player’s release from the side, was quoted by The National as saying.

He added, “This is normal in football. Sometimes big names and big players come and don’t do anything here. This can happen in any team. Sometimes you bring one big name and he doesn’t want to play — that’s my opinion on Babel and Emenike, I think they didn’t want to play here.”

Emenike joined the Arabian Gulf League leaders on a season-long loan deal from Fenerbahce before the beginning of last season after scoring just four goals in 22 appearances for the Istanbul giants in the Turkish Super League.

The former Spartak Moscow forward scored nine goals in 15 appearances for Al Ain before the break, a development which encouraged Fenerbahce to consider cutting short his loan deal at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium.

The Yellow Canaries manager Vítor Pereira believes he could solve his striking problems if Emenike returns to the team, as strikers Robin van Persie and Jose Fernandao have proved they are not reliable.

But Al Ain reacted by replenishing their strike force with Colombian Danilo Asprilla and Douglas.


http://www.punchng.com/emenike-was-a-big-disappointment-al-ain/


lalasticlala Mynd44

FLOP!

Chaii Emenike

How is someone who scored 9 goals in 15 appearances a flop?