Pek Windfall
Staff in Grilled's accounting department did a collective double take, when they received an offer of two million dollars for 18 year-old defender Pek Chin Wan. Concerned that the money men at leaguemates SpartanSG might have slipped their fingers and added three or four additional zeroes to the sum, club secretary Mohd Hamzah Minhat got on the phone, and was informed that the bid was true.
The news filtered through to the squad like wildfire, and the man himself was astounded at the offer that made him second most expensive academy graduate ever at the Birds, behind only current first-team defender
Ling Fuquan's S$3.6 million move. "I'm still stunned." was all he managed.
Apparently, the coaching staff were no less astonished, as they convened an emergency meeting to determine whether Pek was a raw jewel with intangibles that they had missed. Of course, even if so, the sale was still going through. "Let's face it, if a talent the scale of Fang Tong Rong was let go for under S$700000, Pek would have to be Fandi and Sundramoorthy combined for us not to let him leave for S$2 million." reserve coach Luis Alcántara said.
More curious perhaps is the Spartans' buying strategy, which has seen them pick up twelve youngsters all for the same amount, with the beneficiaries ranging from another II.2 team Yew Tea, to oldies such as Heaven Skys, All Stars Team, Wee Li'l Lads and Sunny Beach Boys, to relatively new sides such as RA Trevista Rangers and B Champions FC.
This has left the Spartans' squad rather raw, but head coach
Niculae Stanca dismissed any suggestion that he would behave any differently for Sunday's clash. "We're talking about respect here. The fans who go to The Kherubim will be expecting a good game, and it's up to us to give them one."
