Al-Nameeri Tagged In
Sikong Darong hadn't been idle as the Bunnies hit a rough patch, as it turned out, and he would unveil surprise signing
Mushtag Al-Nameeri late this afternoon. The former Yemeni U-20 international striker had cost nearly S$7.4 million from Italian sixth division side Granburrone, who thus moved him on for a half million dollar loss after three weeks.
Competition for Mushtag's services had mainly come from Finnish VI.914 frontrunners Fc vpr, who were seeking more depth in the forward department for their Division Five tenure. Prior to that, olympic do brazil (French Division Four), 1. FC IAG (Swiss Division Six), CHOLILACTICOS (Chilean Division Five), Bronkonski (Spanish Division Six), echatepayá (Spanish Division Five) and Hussolar (Turkish Division Five) had all expressed serious interest, underlining Mushtag's broad appeal.
It wasn't hard to recognize why either - lithe and scarily mobile, Mushtag had been a locked-on star the moment he arrived at Internacional CCBBB as a teen, and he would score the winner on his international debut against Saudi Arabia, fresh off a move to two-time Panamian challenger cup winners Jejejeje, from Denmark's team nsk.
Mushtag would be signed by Singapore's Ramseille Volliard FC right before Jejejeje's glory seasons though, and his stay here lasted for some four years, which however began with Ramseille's relegation from II.4, and subsequent demotion to IV.9. It wasn't a total loss on the personal front for Mushtag, as he managed a S$10 million transfer out to Dutch club Mannekes, aged twenty-four. A single fifth division title wasn't sufficient to sate his appetite, and he would angle for another move.
Sikong pointed to Mushtag's exceptional output - he still leads the Dutch V.187 scoring table by seven goals, with fourteen in nine rounds - in justifying his outlay. "We need goals, and Mushtag's a proven scorer, having steadily improved with age. From what I see, he's just entering his very prime."
As to talk that Mushtag was too similar to current main forward
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany, Sikong had this to say: "That's just on the surface. If you dig deeper, they actually have quite different behaviours. Ibrahim's more out-and-out, while Mushtag likes to get involved more in the build-up. But frankly, even if they were the same, why not?"
The man himself recognized what he had been brought in to do, as he claimed the Number Thirteen jersey that had belonged to Abderahim Bentellis. "Score goals."
