Tay To EF City
Serangoon third divisioners EF City had been founded with an eye towards collecting and developing all the local talent they could, as their German head coach Norbert Maresch never tired of reminding. They had never hidden their huge interest in Grilled Birds U-20 trainee Tay Kang Kok, and would today sign the 17 year-old winger on a million-dollar contract.
Tay's success came as no surprise to chief scout Tham Beng Li, who had exempted him from the club's main trials after a short look. "Tay's a greyhound." he said. "I haven't seen quite as good a pure winger at the Chicken Wings, for some years now. He also likes to track back, which is something you don't often see at his age."
That may be, but from Tay's hat-trick against Scm at the beginning of the season, most will be looking to his attacking contributions instead. EF City were desperate to adding him to a stellar apprentice cast that already included Jace Leong of the Red Freaking Chillies, and Taylor Fang of Sarcastic Fringeheads, to the extent that they spared no expense in ridiculously outbidding Sweden's Club Destroyer.
The Swedish Division Five patrons had been preceded by Crowded House (Swiss Division Six), 1.FC Boossen (German Division Seven), Psychotyczne Zakapiorki (Polish Division Seven), Hoffenheimer (Austrian Division Five), domestic newcomers Durian Lovers United and two-time Tunisian Consolante winners Boca Junyors, but as Maresch colourfully put it, they were going to get Tay only over his dead body.
The Farmer Bunnies would move two juniors too, with multi-faceted offensive player Dominic Sim joining Istanbul's Serseriteam for S$104,000. The freshly-founded Turkish Division Six outfit counted Sim amongst their first five signings, with Oben Dinçer seeking to kickstart the club's fortunes.
Sim, like Tay, had no lack of suitors, with another Turkish club GENÇALİ SPOR KULÜBÜ having expressed strong interest too. French VI.611 leaders Les Communards would however be Serseriteam's main competitors, with Hearts of Roxer C.F., Petanca Team (both Spanish Division Seven), Club Kettlebell San Carlos (Chilean Division Six) and Fc Mazzarelli (Italian Division Six) his other possible destinations.
Tong Han Kong was of the opinion that Dominic suffered from being slightly overaged. "Had he been at his current level but half a year younger, he would easily have been a seven-figure transfer too. You can't ask for much more from a guy who can play just about anything but defense."
Last but not least, 18 year-old utility man Prakash Munda unexpectedly snagged the biggest club of them all, with ambitious Italian Division Three side ARETUSEA taking him on a free transfer. Munda candidly admitted that he had no idea how that happened, but promised to try and make the most of the opportunity.
