Michael Olunga's Al Duhail Counts Losses As Big-Money Signing Fails To Deliver

Michael Olunga’s Al Duhail are coping with the disappointment of missing out on the Qatar Stars League title following the final match of the season on Friday.

Al Duhail were beaten to the title by Al Sadd, who retained their crown following a 5-0 thrashing of Al Ahli, to edge it by just two points, as they finished the season with 52 points while their rivals had 50.

Olunga scored the only goal as Al Duhail won 1-0 away to bottom club Al Khor but it was impossible to dislodge Al Sadd.

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However, Al Duhail will feel that they might have been in a better position heading into their final match had one of their big-money signings delivered.

Moroccan forward Hakim Ziyech joined the club with much promise in the January transfer window from Turkish giants Galatasaray and at the time, Al Duhail were top of the table.

With his quality and experience, Ziyech was seen as the man to take them close to the title, with his goals and assists, but that has not been the case as he ends his six-month loan deal with just one goal and assist in nine league matches.

The former Ajax and Chelsea star has not come up trumps especially in the final months of the season when Al Sadd mounted a great run while Al Duhail were inconsistent and allowed their rival to close in and claim the crown.

For a player who is reportedly on between €3.5 million (Ksh491 million) and €5 million (Ksh561 million) in annual salary, Ziyech has not delivered.

Al Duhail will unlikely make his deal permanent after such an underwhelming short spell and will likely look elsewhere for reinforcements as they search for better partners in attack for Olunga.