Ajman's Ibrahima Toure heads for AS Monaco

Ajman's hopes of retaining their Pro League status this season have been dealt a potentially fatal blow after top scorer Ibrahima Toure left the club to join ambitious French side AS Monaco. Toure, 26, has been a revelation for the newly-promoted minnows this season, scoring 15 goals in all competitions to fire the club into the relative comfort of mid-table obscurity. So important has Toure been to Ajman's cause that his seven league goals account for exactly 50% of their total output at the half-way point in the campaign, with the Orange Brigade currently languishing in ninth place in the table. But they will now have to make do without their talisman, a summer recruit from Iran giants Sepahan, after he agreed to join Monaco, subject to obtaining a work permit, for an undisclosed fee. "We will miss him, but we must respect his wishes," said Ajman boss Abdul Abdulkadir. Monaco, who were taken over by Russian billionare Dmitry Rybolovlev last month, have also been linked with another UAE-based star in the form of Al Ahli's exciting young striker Ahmed Khalid. But the Dubai-based club, managed by former Atletico Madrid boss Quique Sanchez Flores, have quashed the stories claiming they are just "rumours" and that they have received no approach for the 20-year-old.