The 20-year-old, who was named the continent’s best young player in 2019 after winning the Golden Ball at the FIFA U-20 World Cup earlier in the year, is now a free agent and will look to join a new club before the end of the current European transfer window.

Following a gripping Preliminary Joint Qualifiers Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023™, Asia’s heavyweights will play for four coveted tickets to the global showpiece.

There will be 12 teams competing for four direct tickets to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and we present some of the key facts and figures that give further colour and context to the campaigns that are set to play out on the Road to Qatar.

Ahead of the start of the Asian Qualifiers, the-AFC.com previews each of the teams in the two groups, their history and the players they hope can drive them forward on the road to Qatar.

Rounding off the sides in discussion in Group A are Lebanon, returning to this phase of the Qualifiers for the second time after 2014. Considered by many as outsiders, could they upset the odds and create history?

The-AFC.com dives deep into the 12 nations who will be taking part in the upcoming AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to Qatar assessing and analysing the key men, highlighting the history, and giving a general insight into the teams battling out for a place at Qatar 2022.

New on this stage of the Asian Qualifiers, Southeast Asia's reigning regional champions Vietnam are set to make their bow, but will do so replete with some of the most exciting young talents from ASEAN.

The-AFC.com previews the sides still standing as the pick of the continent’s national teams vie for a place in Qatar next year.

While some teams come into the final stage of the Qualifiers with a history of reaching multiple World Cups, Oman are only at this stage for the third time in their history after 2002 and 2014.

Through this series of articles, the-AFC.com analyses each of the 12 sides ready to take the next step in the journey towards the global showpiece.

For Syria, this is a dream they have came so close to achieving in the past, but without success so far. Can this be the year the Qasioun Eagles finally make it?