Al Ain board member Mohammed Obeid Hamdoun has questioned the commitment of unwanted foreign stars Emmanuel Emenike and Ryan Babel.
Netherlands forward Babel, 29, and recently-retired Nigeria striker Emmanuel Emenike, 28, have been dropped from the Boss’ four-player foreign quota just six months after joining them.
The underwhelming pair have been replaced this month by Colombian winger Danilo Asprilla, 27, and Brazilian centre forward Douglas, 29.
The duo came to the Arabian Gulf League champions with big reputations, but neither sparked. Hamdoum declared this failure could have been because “they didn’t want to play” in the UAE.
He said: “I think Babel will go back to Turkey to play with Fenerbahçe . And Emmanuel, we have one team from China and (parent club) Fenerbahçe want to take him back.
“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.
“I saw Emenike in the World Cup with Nigeria and he was a good player. But when he came here he scored only seven goals. With the local players we have here? Halas (Arabic for ‘enough’).”
On-loan Emenike’s tally came in 14 games for Al Ain. Babel – who has been put up for sale – caused several controversies on social media and struck just twice in 13 matches.
