Plymouth Argyle forward to join Qatar club - He cost the Pilgrims £1.5m in January | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle's Michael Baidoo is set for a loan move to Qatar Stars League outfit Umm Salal SC.

In one of the most bizarre transfer sagas so far this window, Plymouth Argyle's Michael Baidoo is set to join Qatari outfit Umm Salal SC on a season-long loan deal.

Whilst this is a rather straightforward loan, it got very confusing for the Green Army when the Ghanian was officially announced by Umm Salal via Instagram on Saturday, with no confirmation coming from the Devon-based side's social media accounts.

This led to confusion regarding the transfer, and whether Baidoo had actually departed Plymouth, and the Qatar Stars League side had jumped the gun on the announcement.

This has now been cleared up thanks to Chris Errington of PlymouthLive, who has confirmed that a deal that would see the January signing temporarily leave the club is close to completion, but the paperwork is still not finalised.

It seems Umm Salal were eager to confirm the addition of Baidoo to their ranks, so much so that they announced him as their player before the deal was fully completed.

Plymouth Argyle's Michael Baidoo set for Umm Salal loan

The attacking midfielder joined the Greens from IF Elfsborg in January, having missed out on a move to Home Park in the previous summer window. He eventually got his move for a then-club-record fee of a reported £1.5m.

However, Baidoo's time in England hasn't lived up to the hype. He played just 11 league matches for Plymouth in his first half-season, contributing no goals as Argyle fell into League One.

Whilst there were expectations that the Ghanian could find his feet in the third tier, reports emerged linking him with a move to Umm Salal in Qatar, just six months after making the switch to the south coast of England.

The confirmation of this loan deal was made on Saturday, as Baidoo was photographed wearing the Qatari side's kit in a social media post welcoming him to the club. However, there was no confirmation of this transfer from Argyle's end.

Now on Sunday morning, Errington of PlymouthLive has revealed that the 26-year-old is set to join Umm Salal on loan, but the relevant paperwork is still yet to be completed, hence the lack of confirmation from Plymouth.

It seems that the Qatar Stars League outfit have slightly jumped the gun with their announcement of their new signing, but we can now expect confirmation of the loan from the Pilgrims once the paperwork is completed.

Michael Baidoo has been a huge disappointment for Plymouth Argyle

When he arrived in January, the signing of the Baidoo looked to be a really shrewd pick up from Plymouth. He came with great pedigree, having experienced Europa League football earlier in the season at Elfsborg, playing against some of Europe's elite clubs.

However, he was unable to adapt to Championship football in his first six months in PL2, but supporters still had hopes that they'd get to see Baidoo's ability shine through in League One next season.

Unfortunately, it looks all-but certain that won't be the case, as the Ghanian is poised to complete his loan move to Qatar once the relevant documentation has been completed, which will be a massive disappointment for the Green Army.

Baidoo had a chance to make up for his slow start to life in England in League One, but has instead opted to begin a new chapter, albeit a temporary one, away from Home Park, which certainly raises questions regarding his long-term future at the club.