Raul hopes to convince former Real Madrid teammate Ricardo Carvalho to join him in the Middle East.

Carvalho is weighing up his options after failing to agree terms with QPR in August.

Punto Pelota says Raul has urged his Qatari club, Al Sadd, to move for his ex-teammate in January.

But there are two stumbling blocks that must be overcome - Jose Mourinho's reluctance to do transfer business in midseason and Carvalho's unwillingness to pull his kids out of school at this time of year.