Namdar Named
Farmer Bunnies weren't dallying about with their pledged acquisition of additional talent, as they introduced former Pakistani international
Namdar Zarar today. Zarar arrived on a S$4.6 million transfer from Polish Division Two side Swietliki Czarnobyl, who had acquired him for S$7 million right after lifting the Szmaragdowy Puchar Drugiej Szansy and winning III.9 last season. Swietliki Czarnobyl had, of course, previously won the Ekstraklasa and Polish Cup in their glorious history.
Zarar had also been seriously sought after by Nueva Luna FC (Argentine Division Four) and Maiden (Croatian Division Four), with FC Belaja Smert (Swedish Division Five), sporting lesbona (Italian Division Three), S.Andrea.FC (Italian Division Seven), Haifa Sixers (Israeli Division Five) following up, after Ghana Premier League leaders Fabinhos XI had put the bidding over S$3 million.
Prior to that, the rumour mill had RIBENWANSUI (Chinese Division Four), Y0KOHAMA F.C. (Bolivian Division Four), 3l3v3n Fighters (Italian Division Four), Cantina Sociale (Italian Division Six), Chouan En Avant (French Division Six), Lagartynhovic F.C. (Portuguese Division Five), Alexandria SC (Polish Division Five), That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen (American Division Two) and three-time Croatian Super Liga champions Zlatics all said to be interested - surely a list testament to Zarar's complete package as a defensive midfielder.
The player's own pedigree left little to the imagination, with the highlight of his career probably his six-season stint at Palestinean legends Real D_A_S_T, a period during which they won two national cups, with Zamdar memorably scoring in their 4-2 win over Noam Chomsky FC in the second of those. To this had to be added three national league titles, and back-to-back Challenger Cups.
A S$15.3 million move to neighbouring Gaza outfit Nemesis2013 followed at the age of 31, and then another high-profile switch to current Turkish Süper Lig club ATHLETIC BARTIN, before Swietliki Czarnobyl. Before D_A_S_T, he had honed his skill for four years in Portugal with Vila Maldição and in America with Tiger Sharks, having recorded eleven youth caps with Yemeni side Impero Rossoblù, leaving Pakistan straight after being scouted by Green Islands Stout.
The Buns support were spoilt enough to question if Zarar's 33 years meant that his best days were behind him, to which head coach
Sikong Darong replied in the negative. "We had only two first-team midfielders, and Namdar provides a much-needed third option. Style-wise, he's probably more similar to
Morgan Hu. More than that, however, is his experience of winning big things - which I'm sure, we could do with more of."
