Mandzukic departs Juventus to join Qatari side Al-Duhail

The 33-year-old had been frozen out by Maurizio Sarri this term, failing to make a single appearance for Juve in 2019-20

Al-Duhail has announced the signing of the Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic from Juventus.

The Qatari side have landed Mandzukic on a free transfer after the striker terminated his Juve deal, which was set to run through next season.

Al-Duhail will hope Mandzukic can help them to a Qatar Stars League title this season, with the club currently sitting in first place having won nine and drawn two of their 11 matches thus far.

The 33-year-old leaves Juventus after four and a half seasons, having joined from Atletico Madrid in 2015.

Mandzukic had been frozen out by new Juventus boss Maurizio Sarri this term, failing to make a single appearance for the Italian champions in 2019-20.

The Croatian has scored 44 goals in 164 appearances for the Bianconeri, but the writing appeared to be on the wall when he was excluded from Juve’s Champions League squad in September.

Though he has failed to feature this term, Mandzukic has experienced plenty of success during his spell in Turin. 

The striker has won the Serie A title in all four of his full seasons with the club and has also won three Coppa Italia titles. 

Mandzukic helped Juventus reach the Champions League final in 2017, scoring his side’s only goal of the game with a spectacular overhead kick in a 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid.

Outside of his native Croatia, Mandzukic has also played for WolfsburgBayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in his career, and he nearly added Manchester United to that list in the summer.

The Red Devils came in with a late move for the forward in the last transfer window, after previously targeting his Juventus team-mate Paulo Dybala, but ultimately Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side ended up with neither.

Though United were again tipped to bid for Mandzukic in the winter window, he has instead opted to continue his career in the Middle East.

Mandzukic announced his retirement from international duty last year, a month after helping Croatia reach the final of the 2018 World Cup, where they fell to France

During his 11-year international career, Mandzukic played 89 games for Croatia, scoring 33 goals.

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