12 forgotten ballers now playing in the Qatar Stars League: Mitrovic, Verratti…

Footballers moving to the Middle East has become part and parcel of the modern game, but it’s usually the ones going to Saudi Arabia you hear more about.

Qatar, after hosting the 2022 World Cup, isn’t sitting back when it comes to investing in some big footballing names either.

Familiar names like Roberto Firmino and Riyad Mahrez have ended up there, along with a fair few players you probably haven’t thought about for longer. Like these.

Krzysztof Piatek

Serie A enthusiasts will remember a time when Piatek was all the rage. For a couple of months, at least.

Talk about a good first impression. A four-goal haul on his debut in the Coppa Italia before scoring nine goals in his first seven Serie A games for Genoa. Wowsers.

A mid-season step up to AC Milan followed and Piatek made a reasonable start there too, before taking the cursed number nine shirt for his second season and never quite being the same.

Piatek went on to play for Hertha Berlin, Fiorentina and Salernitana before finding his shooting boots again during a two-year stint with Istanbul Basaksehir.

He moved from there to Al Duhail in 2025, scoring nine league goals in his first season in Qatar.

Julian Draxler

A World Cup winner with Germany in 2014, Draxler went on to become a four-time Ligue 1 winner with PSG, plus a Primeira Liga winner with Benfica.

He left Europe behind in 2023 to move to Al Ahli SC, a club based in Doha (not to be confused with the Saudi Pro League side where Ivan Toney plays).

The attacking midfielder scored six goals from 11 games in his first season in Qatar before 12 from 18 in his second and seven from 20 in his third.

It’s been a decent start to the season for the 33-year-old this time too, with three goals from eight games so far.

Ismael Bennacer

A new entrant into the Qatar Stars League this summer, Bennacer joined Al-Gharafa from AC Milan.

The one-time Arsenal man had spent the last 18 months of his time with Milan out on loan, first at Marseille and then at Dinamo Zagreb, before his contract got terminated.

A month later, he signed for Al-Gharafa on a two-year deal. But he got sent off on his debut for the club in the Asian Champions League against Saudi side Al Hilal.

Marcelo Brozovic

A move from Saudi Arabia to Qatar has become fairly common for ageing players who were once shiny new toys in the Saudi Pro League but become surplus to requirements.

It happened to Firmino, it happened to Mahrez and it happened to Brozovic too.

Best known for his eight-year spell with Inter and as part of the Croatia sides that excelled in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Brozovic spent three years with Al-Nassr before a September switch to Al Sadd.

The midfielder was only able to make one appearance for his new club before being sidelined with a groin injury.

Yacine Brahimi

A popular player in his time at Porto, Brahimi has been playing in Qatar since he left the Portuguese giants in 2019.

The winger first spent three years with Al-Rayyan before joining current employers Al-Gharafa in 2022.

He’s captained them in most of their games this season, scoring five goals from eight games in the league.

Marco Verratti

Widely considered the best Italian player to never play in Serie A, Verratti spent his peak years winning trophies galore in France with PSG – a club, of course, with Qatari owners.

When he reached the end of his time in Paris, he was conveniently sold to Al-Arabi for €45m.

Two years later, the midfielder made a move across Doha to join rivals Al Duhail, where he still plays now.

Joselu

Joselu had his moment in the sun back with Real Madrid in the 2023-24 season, but that was all he got there.

He was swiftly sold to Al-Gharafa for a two-year stint there, before embarking on a new challenge in the same league in October with a free transfer to Al-Sailiya.

The former Stoke and Newcastle striker scored on just his second appearance for his new club.

Jordan Veretout

The less said about his season in the Premier League with Aston Villa the better, but Veretout went on to have a decent career in Serie A and Ligue 1, playing for clubs like Fiorentina, Roma and Marseille.

In 2025, the midfielder left Lyon for Al-Arabi, where he scored twice from 22 Qatar Stars League appearances in his debut season.

He has one goal to his name this season – the last covered by his contract as things stand – as well.

Luis Alberto

His Liverpool days are very much forgotten but Alberto was a more than decent baller for Lazio.

After eight years in Serie A, he left them in 2024 to join Al Duhail, before making a cross-Qatari transfer two years later to Al-Wakrah.

Rodrigo

Former Leeds striker Rodrigo is now onto his third Qatari club. First he joined Al-Rayyan in 2023, before having a loan spell with Al-Gharafa in 2024-25.

This summer he signed for Lusail, newly promoted to the Qatar Stars League.

He’s done well so far with five goals from his first eight league games with the club.

Pablo Sarabia

Sarabia arrived at Wolves in 2023 with a decent-looking CV, including spells with Sevilla and PSG after coming through the Real Madrid ranks.

The midfielder left Wolves when his contract expired in 2025 and signed for Al-Arabi.

He enjoyed a decent debut season in Qatar with nine league goals from 21 games.

Aleksandar Mitrovic

It was a bit of a shame to see Mitrovic leave the Premier League for Saudi Arabia in 2023. He’d done pretty well for Fulham and probably still had something to give at a good level.

But after his two years with Al Hilal came to an end, he didn’t head back to Europe. Instead, he stuck in the Middle East with Al Rayyan.

He scored five goals from 11 games in an injury-hit debut season in the Qatar Stars League.