The Arab club, Al-Jazira Abu Dhabi, have confirmed the signing of Schalke 04's Jefferson Farfan on their official Twitter account. Farfan signed a three-year contract until June 2018 and the Königsblauen got around €7m for the 30-year-old, who had one year remaining on his Gelsenkirchen deal.
Schalke's sporting director, Horst Heldt, had already announced the transfer of the Peruvian, and said: "Farfan came up to us and said that he wanted to leave the club."
Farfan's career at Schalke
The Peruvian moved to the Bundesliga in 2008, Schalke paid PSV Eindhoven €10m for the winger back then and he has proved to be great value for money.
Farfan became a regular player instantly and was very convincing in his first season. In 31 matches, he scored nine goals and assisted a further six. A special highlight was definitely his debut against Borussia Dortmund - where Farfan scored the opener in the 20th minute from the penalty spot.
In the following seasons he proved to everyone just why the club shelled out €10m for him. The next term brought eight more goals and a healthy 10 assists.
In his first Champions League outing with the Knappen, he reached the semi-finals with them before being knocked out by Manchester United. In the same campaign, Schalke won the DFB-Pokal final against MSV Duisburg with 0-5. Farfan assisted three goals and had a big say in their success.
Because of an injury in November 2011, Farfan missed ten games but the Peruvian still assisted nine times and scored four goals that year.
Cartilage damage in pre-season last summer meant he spent a huge amount of time on the sidelines - 248 days, to be precise. With 16 injuries in his Schalke career, he had some very bad times, but still featured in 228 Bundesliga matches, scoring 53 goals and notching up 71 assists. With Schalke, he won the 2010-11 DFB-Pokal and the 2011-12 DFL-Supercup against rivals Dortmund in a penalty shoot-out.
Schalke 04 approach to Xherdan Shaqiri
With the €7m from the Farfan deal, a move for Inter Milan, and ex-Bundesliga player, Xherdan Shaqiri seems more plausible.
Shaqiri has found it tough going in Italy and is on the search for a new club. Other teams who are interested in buying the Switzerland international are Stoke City and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. It may be that Schalke 04 will try to loan out the 23-year-old, adding in an option to buy.