After captaining Italy at this month’s World Cup, the celebrated Azzurri centre-back Fabio Cannavaro will leave Juventus for Dubai.

The 36-year-old former Real Madrid football star described his move to Dubai’ Al Ahli as “his dream.”

Dubai and the Gulf have long lured players facing the twilight of their careers with multimillion-dollar bonuses for a couple of seasons running around humid, half-empty stadiums. Teams have had a particular love for skillful Brazilian and African players, such as George Weah, as well as European managers. Though Emiratis might also, like the English, complain that the (albeit mature) quality of foreign players has yet to rub off on local talent and the national side.

What may be surprising for some is that Al Ahli, a Dubai club which has just ended a disappointing season, can still afford to pay out the rumoured €1m per season with bonuses up to €5.6m for what has to be the biggest foreign player ever to top up their pension plans in the Gulf. [Read More]