Al Sadd’s Tanzanian born starlet Akram Afif a teammate to former Barcelona midfielder Xavi has been signed by Villarreal.
The teenager who features for Qatari’s national team spent some time on loan with both Sevilla and Villarreal as a youngster before signing for a Qatari-owned team in the Belgian second tier in January 2015, where he scored seven goals in 21 appearances.
The 19-year-old is set to become the first player from Qatar to play in La Primera and his signing is seen as a big coup for the Gulf state as it readies itself for the 2022 World Cup.
He is a product of Qatar´s Aspire Academy – founded in 2004 to develop young athletes in the country
Aspire is also home to Ugandan talents Luboyera Azake, Kaweke Sophas, Matovu Victor, Kagiri Bashir, Ssenyonjo Hassan and Matovu Musa.
“I also hope more players from Qatar can play in Europe in order to learn a lot of things before the World Cup,” he told Qatar´s World Cup organising body in an interview.
