Doha: A teenage forward is set to become the first player from Qatar ever to play in La Liga and possibly the Champions League after being signed by Spanish club Villarreal.
The transfer of Akram Afif was confirmed on Twitter by his parent club Al Sadd, the Doha team for which former Barcelona great Xavi Hernandez plays, late on Saturday evening.
“OFFICIAL: #AlSadd & @VillarrealCF have agreed on the transfer of Akram Afif to the Spanish club,” read the tweet.
In a statement on its website, subsequently retweeted by Afif, Villarreal also confirmed that an agreement had been reached “in principle”.
The 19-year-old, who was born in Doha, is no stranger to Spanish football having played for Villarreal and Sevilla’s youth teams. Since 2015, Afif has been playing for KAS Eupen, a Qatari-owned team in the Belgian second division.
Eupen is owned by Qatar’s renowned Aspire Academy, which has spent millions trying to develop young Qatari sports stars over the past decade. Afif is a product of Aspire. Afif’s transfer to arguably the strongest European league could be seen as a major coup for Aspire.
During the current season he scored six times in 16 appearances for Eupen, who subsequently have gained promotion to Belgium’s top division.
Eupen director Christoph Henkel said in a statement posted on the club’s website that he was sorry to see Afif leave but the club “wished him luck and success in his future career”
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