Al Nasr’s quest for a new No9 has ended with the capture of Brazilian Iury de Castilho from Ukraine’s Zorya Luhansk.

The Blue Wave endured awful fortune with the previous doomed incumbent of the shirt, Wanderley. A combination of a passport-eligibility row and successive injuries saw the July 2016 capture from Sharjah feature in just seven Arabian Gulf League matches, scoring four times.

They will hope for better luck with Thursday’s 22-year-old addition, who struck on 11 occasions in 25 Ukrainian Premier League matches last term for his fourth-placed employers.

“Al Nasr officially hires Brazilian striker Iury de Castilho, who comes from Ukraine’s Zorya Luhansk,” Nasr tweeted.

De Castilho had previously struck just three times in 29 league appearances for boyhood club Avai.

Nasr will hope the promise displayed in Eastern Europe will be repeated in the UAE’s top flight.

He will find support from fellow Brazilian arrival, Samuel Rosa. The tall 27-year-old notched 21 times in 44 run-outs for Hatta, prior to their relegation in May’s promotion/relegation play-off against Fujairah.

Nasr could yet retain Lebanon centre-back Joan Oumari and they remain in the mix to extend Brazilian Marcelo Cirino’s successful loan from Atletico Paranaense – or make it permanent.

In the domestic market, they’ve already land UAE centre-back Mohammed Marzooq from Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club and forward Mohamed Al Akbari from Al Wahda.

An improvement from 2017/18’s fourth place is expected after the positive impact of rehiring Serbia’s Ivan Jovanovic as coach in January.