Saudi Arabia giants Al-Ittihad make two international signings

Aleksandar Pesic and Matthew Jurman have signed for Al-Ittihad. (AFP)

LONDON: Al-Ittihad have moved to build on their King's Cup success by strengthening their defence and attack with two key international signings.
Aleksandar Pesic, a Serbian international striker, and Australia World Cup defender Matthew Jurman have joined the Jeddah outfit who will be looking to rebuild under new coach Ramon Diaz.
The former Al-Hilal coach replaced Chilean Jose Luis Sierra in May and he has identified Pesic, 26, and Jurman, 28, as two key players in his revolution. Al-Ittihad have won the Saudi Pro League nine times but not since 2009 and they could only finish ninth last season.
Al-Ittihad will be pinning their hopes on Pesic and Jarman leading their rise up the table. Pesic signs from Red Star Belgrade on a three-year deal and comes with a good pedigree having played for Toulouse and Atalanta. He has one international cap, which he won in 2016 in a friendly against Ukraine, and should team up in attack with Ahmed Akaïchi, the Tunisian international, who led the way with ten goals last season.
Jurman went to the World Cup in Russia with the Socceroos and sat on the bench for the games against France, Denmark and Peru. He joins from Suwon Samsung Bluewings on a two-year contract.
Jurman said he left the South Korean club with a heavy heart.
"From the day I became a @suwonsamsungfc player, I loved every minute of it," he wrote on Instagram. "Being my first move overseas for my career it had its ups and downs, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment and loved learning the Korean culture and way of living! I always gave my best when I played for Suwon to always try to help the team win. I’ll miss the city, the fans, my teammates and all the coaching staff and office staff. I’ll never forget the friends and experiences I made there! From now, I’ll be a Suwon fan & will be following the team from afar and one day we will meet again! Now, I’m looking forward to my next step in my career @ittihadclub.sa."