Five Farewells
Farmer Bunnies wouldn't tarry in streamlining their squad in response to their demotion, but it was Grilled Birds' sale that stole the headlines, as they saw off Spanish defender
Raúl Himadas for close to S$2 million, to ambitious Guinea II.2 side Nzérékoré Wanderers. The Wanderers have finished in the top half of their Division Two table for three seasons, and Argentine head coach Luis Francisco Paz cannot have much time left to make it to the Championnat National.
The bigger question was why the Birds were willing to let go of the 32 year-old Himadas, who had earned Golden Boots in both league and cup just last year, before mentioning a very-respectable 18 goal haul this season as well. More serious fans were well aware of his liability at his main job, of course, with his defending increasingly being called into question after the further loss of his already-average pace. This may not be as much of an issue with the Wanderers - who field a back three - though.
Himadas will retain his Number Five with his new club, after choosing them over Romanian IV.14 battlers F.C. Ragazzi. Offers from Alto Canavese Bulls FC (Italian Division Six), ASD Over Soccer (Italian Division Five), You Will never (Spanish Division Six), PSV Nowy Sącz (Polish Division Four), Atletico Siluro (Italian Division Seven) and Rianxeira (Spanish Division Four) proved a deep appreciation for his talents from the old continent, but for Raúl, his foreign adventures had not ended yet.
"I smell more silverware at Nzérékoré." he grinned. "And I want to see more of the world, before I retire!"
The Buns would at the same time release four of their own, foremost amongst them 27 year-old
Louis Lee, who
did wind up in Romania, with Bucharest-based V.159 side Burghezia. Latvian third divisioners FK Pissaks and Turkish V.159 members Football Club Kiev had appeared to be in a two-way contest for his signature, before they were gazumped by Swedish gaffer Torbernt Gustavsson, who had just overseen the departure of Portuguese midfielder Jesus Ramalho. The deal was concluded at a shade below S$2.4 million.
Judah Cho would not wind up with the Buns' conquerors Crème de la crème after all, as he went with an offer of just below S$1.6 million, by Italian VI.130 side AsRoma 24. "It just didn't feel right." the 26 year-old Cho explained. "And I really think there's room for a bigger impact with AsRoma, without going into how I have always been a fan of the Italian league."
28 year-old
Lau Keng Kwang went for a similar fee to Belgian VI.163 champions FCTGO alongside Vitorino António Dias and Henry Steylaerts, with Venezuelan boss Adolfo Grau rebuilding his backline. French Division Six club fc pinpon were interested too, but would not raise their initial offer after FCTGO came in for Lau.
37 year-old former national youth defender
Lim Su Liang left for a second time two seasons after his return, as he admitted that the wealth of experienced defenders at the Buns had left him with little mentorship to do. He will now serve Italian VI.449 side Digital Printing after they offered just over half a million, although a possible stint with Suriname Hoofdklasse giants A Kerki was very tempting.
"I guess I realized that I missed playing real football." the former St. Xavier's FC star admitted. "And to the other guys - maybe they will make a return someday, as I did!"
