Al-Ittihad Targets Ritsu Doan as Diaby Replacement

Al-Ittihad are on the brink of landing one of their headline targets of the window, with Japan international Ritsu Doan set to step into the space left by Moussa Diaby.

Saudi outlet Al-Riyadiah reports that Al-Ittihad have reached an agreement with Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt for the transfer of Doan, with only a few contractual details separating the player from an official move to Jeddah and a new life in the Roshn League.

The deal has been shaped by necessity. Diaby’s departure to Bayer Leverkusen ripped a key attacking piece out of “the Dean’s” structure and forced the club into the market for a forward who could both cover those duties and expand the team’s options in the final third.

Doan fits that brief.

Comfortable across several attacking roles and hardened by his years in Europe, the Japanese star arrives as a ready-made solution rather than a long-term gamble. His versatility offers Al-Ittihad the chance to tweak their shape, not just replace a name on the team sheet, at a time when the club is actively moving away from many of the figures who fronted the previous project.

According to Al-Riyadiah, the agreement between Al-Ittihad and Eintracht Frankfurt is already in place, with both clubs simply working through the remaining formalities before the transfer is rubber-stamped. Inside the club, the expectation is clear: the announcement is a matter of timing, not negotiation.

Doan’s signing forms a key part of a broader recruitment drive after a turbulent summer. The hierarchy want to hand the coach a squad built to execute his ideas and to give “the Dean” a sharper, more modern identity in the new campaign.

If all goes as planned, Ritsu Doan will effectively succeed Diaby in the Al-Ittihad squad, a like-for-like in role but with his own profile and edge. The fans now wait for the club’s confirmation — and for the moment the Japanese attacker walks into a dressing room braced for a very different season.