Benny For Lee
Barely three days before the extremely meaningful clash with reigning champions Rollin' Thunder, Grilled Birds engaged in some last-minute trading as they moved their 26 year-old attacking midfielder
Lee Jie Siong to Portuguese Division Seven side Blue Elf, while getting big Swedish central midfielder
Benny Josefsson, who is the same age, from French Division Five club Amienspowa.
"Actually, I had set my sights on playing overseas for some time, and would have gone even had we won the title." Lee professed. "In fact, it would have been easier to leave as S-League winners, but there's no point mulling over that now." Lee will switch to the Number Ten jersey with the Elves, and his incisive passing will likely be greatly appreciated in Portugal, where technical skills are highly prized.
Grilled immediately spent about half of the S$7.9 million raised from Lee's move, splashing S$4 million on Amienspowa's star man,
Benny Josefsson. The Swedish midfielder had spent almost his entire career in France after turning professional with hometown side FC KWA, a four-day stint with now-defunct KomBaT A.C. the only exception. Hungarian Romicã Moldoveanu was considered but dismissed due to his wage demands, and Jordanian ex-national player Qabil Khawaldeh was also in the running.
As a nice coincidence, Benny is not a complete stranger to Singapore - his teammate Lim Yeng Lee had educated him on some aspects of life here. "Let me try to remember... very hot and humid, lots of fines, why did I agree to come at all? Ah yes, the food; Lim was spot on there." Benny grinned.
Benny prompty chowed down on a triple helping of curry, and was declared unfit to start on Sunday.
