Al Jazira new boy Thiago Neves has admitted he left Al Hilal with a heavy heart as he prepares for a new start in the Arabian Gulf League.

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The Pride of Abu Dhabi announced on Thursday they had completed a three-year deal for the attacking midfielder. Neves is expected to be part of an eye-catching €24 million (Dh99.4m) double swoop with winger Gervinho set to sign from Roma once he returns from international duty with the Ivory Coast.

Neves became a Hilal hero during two trophy-laden spells, his latest period ending with penalty shootout victory against Al Nassr in the Kings Cup.

This commitment – from 2009-2011 and 2013-2015 – has left its mark with him tweeting a warm goodbye yesterday.

“I have no words to express what I’m feeling right now,” Neves wrote. “Actually, what I felt in the [Kings Cup] final, knowing it could be my last game for this club that I love, and it got worse when I left Riyadh on that plane.

“No words can explain my gratitude to Hilal and people from all around Saudi Arabia. It’s been a great, great, great ride.”

Meanwhile, Al Dhafra’s mission to improve on last season’s dispiriting Arabian Gulf League campaign has begun in earnest after they announced the arrival of Argentine midfielder Jorge Luna.

Luna signed a two-year contract yesterday which brought an end to a solid spell at Chilean Primera Division outfit Santiago Wanderers. The diminuitive 28-year-old scored 14 goals in 32 appearances in his only season at the club.

Another potential arrival for last season’s 11th-placed finishers is relegated Ajman’s Iraq centre-back Ahmad Ibrahim, a source close to the player revealing “two or three” unnamed AGL sides have made contact.

An offer has also been made to secure under-utilised midfielder Yaqoub Yousef from Jazira.