A Rosano By Name
The Buns' pre-final preparations continued as they picked up 27 year-old Italian midfielder
Arturo Rosano for S$2 million from Division Five side PastaNapolitan, where he had spent the last eight seasons after a brief five-week stint in Austria with Cruzeiro Esporte Clube Viena - which had been his first stop since his hometown club Fagiada. Three titles and three hat-tricks later, Rosano is again ready to move on, and both the player and PastaNapolitan were only too happy to accept Farmer Bunnies' bid.
Rosano's arrival coming so soon after
Koushan Khatibi's has apparently caused some friction in the squad, with some players reportedly unhappy at them likely just walking into the final XI selected for the Consolation Cup finale.
Vishnu Tallapaka urged all to maintain their unity in the face of such allegations. "It was always going to be a collective effort, and if we do win the prize, everybody has a share in it."
Khatibi for one is trying hard to fit in, though sources close to the Iranian indicate that he remains nostalgic about the partnership he had with Stefano Capece and Horácio Carapau - all sold by FC Red Hot within the same 24-hour period - at his former team. "It's not easy to adopt a new culture so quickly, but Koushan is trying." assistant coach Li Aik Meng said. "And we are going to make it as easy for him as possible."
Over at Grilled Birds, they would get a windfall of just under S$170,000 from the sale of former academy lad Seow Loong Hui from ten-time Panama Challenger Cup winners Gernot FC to former Danish Superligaen club FC Mwape, who are rebuilding from the sixth division. While an S$8.4 million transfer for the 39 year-old did not seem to make immediate sense, it becomes more palatable considering a possible future coaching role at FC Mwape for Seow, who went from free transfer to earning 31 caps with the national team.