Grubenmann Procured
Elias van Dal sprung a massive early Christmas surprise on Farmer Bunnies fans today, as he announced the S$4.6 million capture of Swiss goalkeeping trainee
Vivian Grubenmann. Despite having just turned nineteen, Grubenmann had been an integral part of RB Pillepalle Letze's title-winning drive last season, and it was no wonder that he attracted as much interest as he had, when they signalled their willingness to consider offers.
Fellow Singaporean side FC La Trappe seemed all but set on adding Grubenmann to their stable alongside Uruguayan José Manuel Antognazza, but personal intervention by van Dal managed to swing the candidate Bunnies' way. With three-time Estonian cupwinners JK BEOWULF 215, Wall Street (Ukrainian Division Four) and Portucalia (Portuguese Division Five) also confirmed bidders for Grubenmann, this must be recognized as quite the coup for the Buns.
It was evident that the head coach was quite enamoured of his latest record signing. "I can say without qualification, that he is the future of Farmer Bunnies." the usually level-headed van Dal gushed, dismissing out of hand talk that he had been looking at a certain Vietnamese trainee previously. "Mark my words."
This has apparently not gone down too well in the Bunnies dressing room, according to sources within the club, with some pretty big egos having developed. "Time will tell if it's just teething troubles." one source said. "Interestingly, it's not the other goalies that are feeling the most threatened."
There will probably be no corresponding big buy over at Grilled Birds, in contrast. Although
Djan Bacelar admitted that he had seriously considered bringing former Chicken Wings trainee and national U-20 keeper Rupesh Sharma back, he finally balked at the S$9 million asking fee.
"Not only that,
Wong Tian Han has been one of our most consistent, if unsung, performers." Bacelar added. "It's just too much of a risk, for limited upside. We're gearing up for a comprehensive rebuilding phase, and that sort of money is more than we can write off."
