Al Wahda are working tirelessly to get new signing Jorge Valdivia over to the UAE before his current deal at Brazilian side Palmeiras expires.

Chilean Valdivia signed a two-year deal with the Maroons on Thursday after guiding his country to Copa America glory for the first time in their 99-year history.

The 31-year-old remains contracted to Brazilian side Palmeiras until August 17 but Wahda officials say discussions are ongoing to try and secure an earlier release.

Ayman Abu Ebaida, the club’s media officer, said: “Valdivia has signed but he has a contract with Palmeiras until August 17 and will wait until that ends, although maybe he will be here sooner.

“The clubs are in talks to bring the player to the UAE sooner but we will see what Palmeiras say.” 

Valdivia is no stranger to the UAE having spent two seasons at Al Ain between 2008-10.

Al Nasr, meanwhile, have given up on signing Roma midfielder Marquinho and Porto winger Silvestre Varela.

Brazilian Marquinho is reported to prefer a move back to his homeland, while the Blue Wave pulled the plug on a deal for Varela after Porto upped their price.

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Team supervisor Humaid Al Tayer said: “We have stopped negotiations. He definitely won’t be coming to Al Nasr.

“It was up to him and we don’t really know the reasons. We gave them a deadline of a week to make a decision and they said no.”

Of 30-year-old Varela, who has 26 caps for Portugal, Al Tayer said Porto doubled their asking price.

“We approached Varela and we were very close to signing him,” he said. “We agreed a price of €1.2m (Dh4.9m) but they changed their minds and asked for more money.”