Dubai club dumps Socceroos skipper Lucas Neill Socceroos captain Lucas Neill, right, training with Tim Cahill. Picture: Rob Griffith. THE future of Socceroos captain Lucas Neill is up in the air once more, after his UAE club moved to release the veteran defender and replace him with a 20-year-old Iraqi. Dubai-based Al Wasl was last night completing the signing of defender Ahmed Ibrahim, leaving Neill on the hunt for a new employer with the European and Middle Eastern transfer windows closing this morning. Under Asian Football Confederation rules teams can have "3+1" - three overseas players plus a fourth from Asia - and the signing of Ibrahim means he will replace Neill as the "1." Though Al Wasl will have to pay out Neill's contract in full, of more concern to Neill and Holger Osieck will be finding a new home for the national captain. Neill is due to play against Romania in next week's friendly even though he is suspended for the World Cup qualifier with Oman in March. Neill only joined Al Wasl five months ago, after leaving fellow UAE club Al Jazira in August. It's believed he would prefer to remain in the Middle East after 18 months there, though persistent reports have linked him with a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League, whose transfer window runs until the end of February. Neill has fought shy of a move to the A-League, where clubs can sign players for another fortnight, since his plans for a Western Sydney franchise were rejected by FFA in 2009. Neill, who currently has 88 caps, has made clear his continued desire to play at the 2014 World Cup and even beyond that to the Asian Cup in Australia the following year.