Yuta Homecoming
There could have been few dissenting voices when
Djan Bacelar confirmed what the fan grapevine had been abuzz with for months - that former Chicken Wings captain, and until recently Arcturules first team defender,
Yuta Nakakita would be heading back to The Cooking Pot.
Yuta would not come cheap, as Grilled had to put up S$7.7 million for the 23 year-old, in the face of stiff bidding from Slovenia's kito mijashi and Austria's FC Muntlix City. There was no question of Bacelar staying his hand, however, not when Yuta ticked so many boxes in his wishlist.
"I'm sure you're well aware of how highly-rated Yuta has been in this league." Bacelar enthused. "Virgil Bogdan has had him playing twice a week, and he has been an absolute machine for them. As a continental-style sweeper, he has few equals locally."
"He'll invite comparisons with
Yuki Irie, of course, but they are actually very complementary. Then there's Yuta's adeptness in the air, which we have too often suffered under... and finally, there are the old connections to relish."
Mohammad Ramli Saliman, who had been Yuta's longtime comrade at the Wings, was indeed over the moon at the announcement. "There's nobody else I would have had backing me up then. If it's the Yuta I know, he will be a great asset to the team!"
If Yuta has a fault, it would have to be his reserved personality, which he at least made an effort to mask during his presentation ceremony. Picking Joan Cisquell's recently-abandoned Number Thirteen after wearing Number Six with Arcturules, the Japanese-Singaporean answered all questions politely if slightly curtly, at least until he was asked about his national squad ambitions, at which his eyes lit up reflexively.
"It's something every player thinks about." he blurted. "But I know I am not there yet. But in a few years... let us see what is possible."
After Yuta's turn was over, Bacelar admitted that Grilled had also been looking at another former Wings graduate in Yap Beng Yeng, but the 19 year-old whizkid would be signed to German fourth division side FS Lüneburg for the princely sum of S$7.2 million.
"I was almost relieved that the final fee was so high." the head coach said. "Or we could have been irresponsibly tempted. To be honest, FS Lüneburg will probably be better for his development at the moment, and in the future, as we have seen today, who knows?"
