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Al Ahli offer record AGL bid for Gaitan

 Al Ahli have made a sensational ?35m bid - an Arabian Gulf League (AGL) record transfer sum - for Argentina and Benfica winger Nicolas Gaitan, according to reports emanating from Portugal.
Sports newspaper O Jogo says that representatives from the Dubai-based club are currently in the Portuguese capital and trying to broker a deal for the 27-year-old, who has recently been linked with Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Valencia.
Gaitan's agent Jose Irrabaren even talked up the possibility of his client joining Louis van Gaal's Red Devils squad this summer back in June.
"Everything is possible, there is a deal with Manchester United," Irrabaren said. "The will of the player is that everything goes well. We are waiting for a response from the vice president, which is why I cannot say much more."
However, tentative talk of that United move has since gone decidedly quiet and Van Gaal has subsequently spent heavily on PSV Eindhoven's Memphis Depay, who also operates in Gaitan's preferred left wing position.
The Red Knights have already done business with Benfica this summer having signed Brazilian forward Lima, 32, from them last month and it's now thought they are ready to meet the pricey release clause for Gaitan.
The fact relations and ties are presumably stands in Ahli's favour, yet Gaitan would still prefer to move to Europe instead according to the report in O Jogo.
Gaitan has been at the authentic Estadio da Luz (Stadium of Light) since 2010, when he arrived from Boca Juniors as a direct replacement for the Real Madrid-bound Angel di Maria, who - ironically - he was rumoured to be replacing at Old Trafford this summer prior to Depay's arrival.
alex@khaleejtimes.com