Hariharan Goes Celtic
28 year-old
Hariharan Prabhu departed for South African second division strivers Celtic Breitenrain II today for a fee of S$6.5 million, ending his re-association with the Birds just short of five seasons. The sales of Terry Stalder and Jukka Hagelin had left Mahdi Akbar's squad with a glaring need in midfield, and the former Iraqi international identified Hariharan as the man to fill it.
While entirely expected, his leaving remained a dagger to the hearts of many Grilled fans, a fair number of whom had expected the former Wings graduate to see out his days at the club. "It's a huge blow to our ambitions, I realised." longtime supporter Tom Huang moaned. "It only hit me after a while. We never used to sell our best in their primes."
This was a sentiment that
Djan Bacelar well understood, but the Grilled head coach remained convinced that he had made the right decision, tough to swallow as it was.
"This pains me as much as anybody here, believe me." he said. "I've watched Prabhu develop here, and we always had a very good relationship. I don't think it is up for debate, that he is more or less an automatic pick."
"However, he just didn't fit into the club's redevelopment plans for the future, and his weekly salary of some S$120000 was an additional incentive for the transfer. On a purely footballing level, I'd have loved for him to stay, but we must be practical, these days."
Hariharan was of a similar disposition, and made to thank everyone at the club profusely at his departure ceremony. "It was a very, very hard choice to make, and there were a lot of discussions. At the end, leaving made the most sense. Celtic Breitenrain II put together an excellent package, and I'm definitely looking forward to playing for them, but Grilled will always retain a special place in my heart."
He certainly hopes to improve on one particular aspect of his game in South Africa. "I can't quite believe that I haven't managed to score in the league here. Surely that must change..."
