With less than a week to go until the big kick-off, the-AFC.com looks at some of the movers who already boast invaluable experience in Asia’s biggest club competition and know exactly how to find the back of the net.
Mehdi Taremi (Persepolis to Al Gharafa)
Islamic Republic of Iran striker Mehdi Taremi was one of the stars of last year’s AFC Champions League as his goals fired Persepolis to the semi-finals for the first time.
Taremi netted seven of his side’s 17 goals in the competition, including a crucial hat-trick in the final game of the group stage that saw the Tehran team advance to the knockout rounds.
Another goal in the quarter-finals helped book a date with Al Hilal in the semi-finals but, without the absent Taremi, the Iranian side’s run came to an end. Just four months later, Persepolis must try and fill the huge void left by their leading marksman and FIFA World Cup-bound star.
The beneficiary of his departure, Qatari side Al Gharafa, will now hope Taremi’s goals can also shoot them beyond the last eight for the first time, while the striker will look to benefit from the service provided by the recently acquired former Real Madrid and Internazionale midfielder Wesley Sneijder.
Dejan Damjanovic (FC Seoul to Suwon Samsung Bluewings)
At 36, the Montenegrin forward knows his way around the AFC Champions League, having represented FC Seoul with distinction over the years, including helping the K-League Classic side reach the 2013 final and the 2016 semi-finals.
In 2013, Damjanovic scored in both legs of the quarter-finals, added another in the semi-finals and then again managed goals home and away in the final, only to see his side edged on away goals by Guangzhou Evergrande.
The forward won three K-League Classic titles with FC Seoul and has thrice finished as the domestic campaign’s top scorer, but stunned his fans by signing for domestic rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings at the beginning of 2018.
Eliminated at the group stage last year, and having not progressed beyond the last 16 since reaching the semi-finals in 2011, Suwon will be looking for goals from Damjanovic, who got the ball rolling by scoring in the 5-1 play-off victory over Vietnam’s FLC Thanh Hoa.
Diego Forlan (Free agent to Kitchee)
Another experienced campaigner, Diego Forlan is one of the biggest names ever signed by a Hong Kong club, after Kitchee brought in the former Uruguay international ahead of their maiden appearance in the AFC Champions League.
Famed for his outstanding goalscoring feats at Atletico Madrid and Villarreal, as well as being named the 2010 FIFA World Cup's best player as Uruguay finished fourth in South Africa, Forlan also has previous in Asia's biggest club competition.
In 2014, Forlan scored twice in the AFC Champions League group stage as Cerezo Osaka advanced to the knockout rounds during his first year in the continent. A stint with India's Mumbai City marked Forlan's second foray into Asia, before Kitchee acquired him in the twilight of his career at the beginning of 2018.
At 38, Forlan arrives at a Kitchee side who will become just the second team from Hong Kong to appear in the AFC Champions League after Eastern SC’s debut last year. The Uruguayan adds experience and knowhow to an underdog set to take to the continental stage for the first time.
Ahmed Khalil (Al Jazira to Al Ain)
Ahmed Khalil recently signed for Al Ain after a brief stint with Al Jazira, but is most known for his time with fellow Emirati side Al Ahli, who he helped reach the 2015 AFC Champions League final.
Khalil scored six on the continent in 2015, netting twice as Al Ahli eliminated his new team Al Ain in the last 16. The forward scored again in the quarter-final win over Naft Tehran, but ultimately saw Guangzhou Evergrande pip his side to the title.
Match-winning performances in the continent’s biggest club competition came on the back of superb displays at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, where the United Arab Emirates finished third and Khalil the joint-second highest scorer before he was later named the AFC Player of the Year.
Khalil now links up with his AFC Player of the Year successor Omar Abdulrahman, who won the award in 2016, in an Al Ain side that boasts a potentially formidable frontline as the pair aim to be crowned continental champions for the first time.
Sardor Rashidov (Al Jazira to Lokomotiv)
Another player to have recently left Al Jazira, Sardor Rashidov made his name with Tashkent giants Bunyodkor, who he found the back of the net for in both the 2014 and 2015 AFC Champions League campaigns.
It was perhaps a goal against his future employers El Jaish in 2014 that first alerted the Qatar Star League side to Rashidov, whose 94th-minute winner eliminated the Doha side at the group stage at the expense of Bunyodkor.
A little over a year later and Rashidov had signed for El Jaish, where both he and the club reached the AFC Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 2016, before defeat to eventual runners-up Al Ain.
Following a short spell with Al Jazira, Lokomotiv pulled off a major coup in tempting the Uzbekistan international home. The two-time Uzbek champions will now aim to match their best performance on the continent when they reached the quarter-finals in 2016 before, just like Rashidov, they fell to Al Ain.
Adriano (Shijiazhuang Ever Bright to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)
Brazilian striker Adriano is best known for his hot streak in the 2016 AFC Champions League with FC Seoul when he finished as the competition’s top scorer on 13 goals – the joint-highest number ever scored in a single campaign.
Adriano started the competition like a man on a mission, scoring four in the opening-day win over Buriram United, before a hat-trick against Sanfrecce Hiroshima and a brace against Shandong Luneng took his tally to nine in just three games.
Further goals against Urawa Red Diamonds in the last 16 and Shandong in the quarter finals saw the side from the Korean capital reach the semi-finals, where they ultimately fell to eventual champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
Now, after a year in China, Adriano has returned to Korea to team up with Jeonbuk ahead of the two-time champions’ return to continental action, and they will hope that the 30-year-old can rediscover the goalscoring form that saw him develop into one of the most feared strikers in Asia.
