Fresh Blood
Grilled inducted their first foreign youngsters since Fjällbratt and Mirchev into their squad today, with the promise of more to come. This has been taken by some to be an admission of the Chicken Wings youth academy's less than productive tenure, but academy director Alan Poh unsurprisingly pooh-poohed these charges. "We were never meant to be the first team's sole supply line, and we can always appreciate talent no matter where it comes from." Poh sniffed.
The latest transfers hardly put a dent in Grilled's budget, though. Tall Hungarian 19 year-old
Sándor Deme arrived for an auspicious S$88 000 from German Division Ten club FC Aerzen, while pacy 18 year-old Italian
Ciro Penati cost just S$124 000 from Croatian Division Six side Sokol Vratišinec. Both had their admirers, but Grilled were determined and the duo understandably didn't need much persuasion to move to a leading club.
Others on Grilled's shortlist included Belgian teenagers Bert Hoogstoel and Wessel Lenaers, Romanian Tudorel Nedelescu and the outstanding Spanish lad Joaquín Quintanal. However, their sides asked for quite a bit more than Grilled were willing to pay for untested youth. Rumour has it that Grilled are looking for an injection of freshness on the right soon as their Dutch ex-U20 international winger
Hidde van Liere is thinking of moving on, but picking a true successor will have to wait till the end of the season.
Also, a number of Grilled oldies are set to retire together under a new club policy. Those confirmed leaving include ex-coach
Frank Öhmo, defenders
Kau Siu-Cheung and
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah, winger
Gao Seng-kar and Spanish backup goalie
Tomás Semprún Balenciaga.
Ulf Hjortlind and
Hang Bao-Tam are considering moving on too, in what will be the biggest shakeup at the club for years.
