Zhu Leaves For Quattro
Fourteen seasons and 224 starts later, 34 year-old
Zhu Changchun has left for Latvian Division Five winners quattro S1 for S$1.33 million, and as eighth in Grilled's all-time appearance list. The well-rounded playmaker cited the desire for another overseas jaunt as a key factor in his decision. "Mexico was a superb experience for a rookie. I'm looking forward to Europe already."
Zhu had been expected to go to Cambodian Premier League runners-up DLM Cambodia, but salary negotiations were reported to have fallen through at the last moment. Former Italian cupwinners Express Road were said to be another possible destination, but they opted to invest in the goalkeeping pair of Armin Bagheri and John Nylund instead.
There might well be silverware in the switch, with quattro's Swiss head coach Mathieu Sandmeier bringing Zhu in as part of a wholesale renewal after their narrow qualifier defeat to FC Lokomotiv Riga, headlined by Macedonian forward Dusko Boshevski. Zhu will be expected to lead a relatively thin midfield, but with Boshevski and capped countryman Slavko Chunovski up top, he should have little problem finding assists.
