Recent Al Rayyan signing Marcelo Bordon will link up with his new teammates for training on Monday, the Qatari club's team director Ali Salem said Sunday.
Former Schalke defender Bordon signed a one-year deal last week with Al Rayyan, one of the leading teams in Qatar.
Salem said Sunday the 34-year-old Brazilian returned home to pick up his family and would join the Al Rayyan squad in the Netherlands, where it will be camped for 21 days. The new season starts in Qatar in September.
Bordon helped Schalke to a second-place finish in the Bundesliga last season before the German club agreed to terminate his contract a year early. It ended the player's six-year association with Schalke.
He told Al Rayyan's website he was ''happy to start a new experience'' with the club, who have two other foreign imports in Afonso Alves and Marcelo Tavares.
''I know a lot about the Qatar league and I know coach Paulo Autuori and also striker Afonso Alves, who gave a me a lot of information about Qatar and Al Rayyan,'' Bordon said.
''Al Rayyan are a strong team and I hope I can put my experience at the service of the team to help them to win a lot of titles in the local and continental competitions.''
Salem said Bordon was the leader the club had been searching for.
''We were looking for somebody who has experience and can lead with example,'' he said. ''He has played top-flight football in a very competitive league (in Germany). He is a seasoned campaigner who can help us realise our goals in the new season.''
Al Rayyan finished fifth in the 12-team Qatar Stars League table last season but won the Prince Cup, Qatar's biggest knockout tournament, in May.
Former Germany international Mario Basler, ex-Netherlands players Frank and Ronald De Boer, and Fernando Hierro, the former Spain and Real Madrid libero, have played for Al Rayyan over the past decade.
