Morocco's Romain Saiss joins Qatari club

Al-Sadd FC has strengthened its defense by signing Moroccan national team captain Romain Saiss from Turkish side Besiktas in a deal worth 2.5 million euros, as announced by the Qatari club on Monday.

Al-Sadd posted a video of Saiss wearing the team's jersey with the number 29 on his back, accompanied by the caption, "Officially: Romain Saiss is a Saddawi for two seasons starting from the 2023/2024 season."

This will be the Moroccan's first Arab experience, and he shone in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he played a key role in leading the "Atlas Lions" to reach the semi-finals. Saiss began his football career in France, where he was born in 1990, and played for Valenciennes, Clermont, Le Havre, and Angers.

Later, the 33-year-old moved to the English Premier League, where he played from 2016 until 2022, representing Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City, before joining Besiktas in June 2022.

With 75 international matches under his belt, during which he scored two goals, including one in the 2-0 victory against Belgium in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar, Saiss became the seventh newcomer to the Qatari Stars League for the past season. He joined the Ecuadorian winger Gonzalo Plata, Brazilian Giovanni Henrique, Iranian defender Mohammad Amin Hozhabri, Colombian midfielder Mateus Uribe, Brazilian left-back Paulo Otavio, and Qatari young defender Anas Abdul Salam Abu Inieh.

However, Al-Sadd's joy of signing Giovanni Henrique from Palmeiras for a deal worth nine million euros did not last long. On Sunday, the club announced that the player suffered a torn cruciate ligament and cartilage damage during a friendly match with Morocco's Raja Casablanca (2-2) on Friday at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.

The Brazilian forward sustained the injury in the early minutes of the match, which will result in his absence from the team until the end of the season, according to the club's statement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP