Sports News of Friday, 23 July 2021
Source: ghanaguardian.com
2021-07-23
Black Stars captain Andre Dede Ayew
Ghana captain Andre Ayew has decided to dump the boisterous leagues in Europe for a final pay day in his twilight by joining Qatari side Al-Sadd where he will be coached by legendary former Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez.
The forward has signed a three-year contract with the Asian giants after his contract with Swansea City expired in the summer after their failure to qualify to the English Premier League.
He has played in the major leagues in France, England, Turkey and then the English Championship in his career and worked under different managers along the line.
The legendary ex-Barcelona midfielder joined Al-Sadd as a player in 2015 after 17 trophy-laden years with Barca, becoming head coach after hanging up his boots in 2019.
In April 2021, he led the team to the Qatari domestic league title while remaining unbeaten.
Xavi was strongly linked with a return to Spain to coach the Catalans in January 2020 after Ernesto Valverde was sacked and has continued to be linked with the top job at the Camp Nou, even since Ronald Koeman succeeded Quique Setien last August.
The Spaniard had recently guided the team to the domestic cup, and the league triumph makes it six in total since he took over as coach in May 2019.
Last year, he won the Qatar Cup, the Supercup, the Emir Cup and the Stars Cup.
Xavi signed a new two year contract with his Qatari side that will keep him at the club at least until 2023.