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Jonathan Pitroipa hopes for trophy-laden future

Burkina Faso international signs three-year deal with Al Jazira

Jonathan Pitroipa was officially unveiled by Abu Dhabi’s Al Jazira at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Sunday night. — Supplied photo

Jonathan Pitroipa is eager to embark on a new adventure with a trophy-laden future after making a big move from Europe to the Middle East.

The Burkina Faso international penned a three-year deal with Abu Dhabi’s Al Jazira and was officially unveiled at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, late on Sunday night. Pitroipa, who was the Player of the Tournament at last year’s African Cup of Nations, joins from French club Stade Rennais, and will don the No.11 jersey.

Pitroipa played for German clubs SC Freiburg and Hamburg before joining French club Stade Rennais. He has made 42 appearances for Burkina Faso.

The 28-year-old, completes the foreign quartet at Al Jazira after the club also signed Montenegro international Mirko Vucinic from Italian giants Juventus. Al Jazira have retained Moroccan midfielder Abdelaziz Barrada, while Brazilian Jucilei da Silva, who obtained a Palestine passport, will slot into the Asian player role. Ecuador international Felipe Caicedo is being off-loaded.

Pitroipa was about to set off on a loan spell to English Premier League club Stoke City during the January transfer window but the deal didn’t go through. He is also reportedly to have turned down a move to Marseille.

Pitroipa had an opportunity to play in the Middle East last year but he took a rain check on a move to Qatar.

“I thought that it wasn’t the right time for a move,” he said about turning down the opportunity to play in Qatar.

This time, he travelled to Abu Dhabi before agreeing to join the ‘Pride of Abu Dhabi.’

“This time, when I received the offer from Al Jazira, I decided to make a visit and it wasn’t a difficult decision in the end. I was really very impressed by my first visit to Abu Dhabi. I agreed on a deal after seeing everything here, the infrastructure, the facilities and also learning more about the club and the country’s football,” Pitroipa revealed.And he was impressed by what he saw at Al Jazira as well as football in the UAE. “There are a lot of good players in the Arabian Gulf League and football is continuing to develop in the country. I believe there are lots of young Emirati players emerging from the academies. I have already had a couple of training sessions and enjoying the atmosphere and the company of my teammates,” he said.

And Pitroipa thanked Al Jazira for giving him the opportunity. “It is a new experience and a new life for me, playing for the first time in the region. I am very thankful to Al Jazira for providing me with this opportunity and a good deal,” he said.

On what he can bring to the table, he said, “I think I have the speed, dribbling skills and more importantly, I’ll play for the team with the objective of winning trophies,” said Pitroipa.

Team manager Ayed Mabkhout hoped that Pitroipa’s experiences in Europe will help Al Jazira. “Pitroipa has been playing most of his football for top clubs in Germany and France. He brings a lot of experience with him. We hope that he can transfer his experience and contribute to the success of the club in the new season,” Mabkhout said.