Chee Ultra Windfall
In a deal that flabbergasted the entire domestic footballing fraternity, budding Farmer Bunnies virtuoso Chee Yao Teck fetched over S$8.1 million from Mongolian Second Division club Marek Wro Mongol Uls Team, in the same week that they had recruited the similarly-aged Ádám Kóra from Hungary's Madridista Club De Hun. It was not that they were wanting for funds, definitely, with Maksym Jaczewski moved on for some S$12.2 million not all that long ago.
Despite this, the utter magnitude still overwhelmed, especially when set against the context of the previous record for a fresh academy graduate - for both the Birds and the Buns - being merely S$3.6 million, for Ling Fuquan. In fact, it was so out of the norm, that club officials uniformly declined comment. The half-joking buzz going around was that they were figuring out how to hide the money, a completely understandable sentiment.
The Buns' great good fortune arguably stemmed from Brazil Division Six club "CRFlamengo"'s determination to win Chee over, having just laid out a combined total of some S$14 million for the prodigal pair of Ryan Caesar and Sonith Sin. They had certainly not lost any of their stomach for high prices, and sent Chee's valuation into the stratosphere, reportedly matching Marek Wro bid for bid in the Bunnies boardroom.
In all, a stunning total of sixteen teams placed official offers: Lumpis Elite Truppe (German Division Six), Boia de (Italian Division Eight), O¦OaO¦O/\u XuneP (Bulgarian Division Five), Fomleball (Norwegian Division Five), titiriscacm (Greek Division Six), Dynamo Kascou (French Division Six), whip snaps (Danish Division Four), Servette FC (Swiss Division Seven), SK Veveráci (Czech Division Five), Vodikaz FC (Montenegro Division Four), Suuper Chłopaki (Polish Division Seven), WS Browar (Polish Division Six), GAO Team (Spanish Division Eight) and last but not least, local league rivals M4 United.
The no less astonished 17 year-old was also whisked away, and presumably is under secret service protection. Tapes of the new sensation - now eagerly sought-after by reporters of all stripes - revealed a notably assured specimen operating all across the attacking front, while being built like a classic centre-forward. Nevertheless, it remained difficult to see just what his many suitors recognized in him, but given their numbers, it's hard to argue that they were all mistaken.
