(MENAFN- Gulf Times) One of the most hectic seasons of the QNB Stars League will begin on Saturday. The season has to be completed by mid-March 2022 allowing national team members to be relieved of club duties with effect from April 1, 2022.
On the first day of the competition, Al Gharafa face Al Shamal, Umm Salal play Al Rayyan and Qatar SC meet Al Ahli. On Sunday, Al Khor take on Al Duhail, Al Wakrah meet Al Arabi and Al Sadd face Al Sailiya.
All teams have completed their preparations through training camps, during which they played friendly matches to test the readiness of players.
The overseas professional players, the Qatar national team and Olympic team players, who played in international competitions, are expected to soon join their respective clubs.
Meanwhile, some teams are still working on recruiting professional players, with Al Rayyan still in need of a foreign professional, while Al Gharafa needs two.
In the transfer window, many clubs signed outstanding Qatari players, most notably Mohamed Alaaeldin (Al Rayyan to Al Duhail) and Ahmed Yasser (Al Rayyan to Al Duhail). Al Arabi recruited Abdulqadir Ilyas and Hamed Ismail, while Sebastian Soria returned to Qatar SC.
Holders Al Sadd retained the services of four of their professionals – Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah, Spaniard Santi Cazorla, Brazilian Guilherme Torres, and South Korean Jung Woo-Young. The Wolves replaced South Korean Nam Tae-Hee with Ghanaian striker Andre Ayew.
Al Duhail made big changes to their squad, signing three players – Tunisian Ferjani Sassi and Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld, while Nam rejoined the side following his stint in Al Sadd. The Red Knights retained Paulo Edmilson for the fourth consecutive season and Kenyan striker Michael Olunga.
Al Rayyan decided to retain four professional players – Yacine Brahimi, Cameroonian Franck Kom, Ivorian Yohan Boli and Iranian Shojae Khalilzadeh.
Al Gharafa signed Algerian Mehdi Tahrat recently, while compatriot Sofianne Hanni and Ivorian Jonathan Kodjia continued.
Al Ahli signed four new players – Serb Marko Jevtovic, Iranian Hussein Kanaani, Nigerian Patrick Eze and Moroccan Soufiane Bouftini. The Brigadiers retained the services of Paraguayan Hernan Perez.
Qatar SC made two top deals – Spanish midfielder Javi Martinez and Algerian defender Djamel Benlamri – in addition to signing Belgian Isaac Mbenza to replace Nigerian Anthony Okpotu, who suffered an ankle injury. The Kings retained Algerian Youcef Bleili and Iraqi Bashar Resan.
Al Arabi kept their professional player quartet of Tunisian Yousef Msakni, Iranian Mehrdad Mohammadi, Spaniard Marc Muniesa and Icelander Aron Gunnarsson, besides signing Gabonese Aaron Boupendza. They offloaded Algerian Ayoub Azzi.
Al Sailiya retained the services of only two foreign professionals – Iranian Ramin Rezaien and Senegalese Serigne Mbodji, and besides signing Tunisian defender Nassim Hnid, Moroccan midfielder Driss Fettouhi and Norwegian striker Adama Diomande.
Al Wakrah kept three of their foreign professionals, namely Algerian striker Mohamed Benyettou, Malian midfielder Ousmane Coulibaly and Brazilian Lucas Mendes, and roped in Iranian Omid Ebrahimi from Al Ahli and Angolan Gelson Dalla.
Umm Salal retained only two professionals – Moses Orkuma (Nigeria) and Ayman Abdennour (Tunisia). Yaseen Al Bakhit (Jordan), Isael da Silva (Brazil) and Aymen Hussein (Iraq) were signed by the club.
Al Khor retained four of their foreign professionals – Rafael Vaz (Brazil), Pierre Michel-Lasogga (Germany), Giannis Fetfatzidid (Greece) and Ismail al-Haddad (Morocco). They recruited South Korean Koo Ja-Cheol from Al Gharafa.
Three professionals continued with Al Shamal – Dutchman Jeremy de Nooijer, and Jordanians Baha Faisal and Khalil Zaid Bani Attiah. They buttressed their ranks with two new professionals – Argentinian defender Matias Nani and Colombian striker Jeison Medina Escobar.
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