Trio Set Sail
The production lines kept churning at the Grilled academies, as each of them had a trainee picked up by an interested party today. Foremost amongst them would be Farmer Bunnies' Phua Qiang Wen, who fetched close to S$2.5 million from Lithuania fifth division side Ir kalnai turi akis. The controversial sale of youngster Thierry Atouba for barely S$3 million, mere weeks after his S$8 million arrival from Tusken Raiders F.C. had led to fan fury at decision-maker Cristian Jicmon, but it appears that Ir kalnai turi akis have cash to burn.
As for Phua himself, he had been described as one of the best wide forwards to grace the Rancher Rabbits for many a year, a designation approved by his Rabbits scout Ooi Long Ming. "Speed, feet, brains, Phua has it all." Ooi insisted. "Striker's not the most prominent role in a club known for cultivating defenders, but he managed to make it mostly about him, for much of his time with us."
Recent Jordanian Division Four winners Al Karpin FC were Ir kalnai turi akis' fiercest rivals for Phua, as Giacinto Licani sought to remodel his team from the ground up. MONDIAL BUCURESTI (Romanian Division Six), Aromas del Sur HC (Swiss Division Five), Gaza Resilience (Palestine Division Three), Apucarana Sports (Brazilian Division Five), Independiente-fc- (Spanish Division Six), Grand Substitutes (Dominician Republic Division Three), Real stoca (Italian Division Six), Animal Limena (Italian Division Eight), Jim GP (Spanish Division Four), Pep Munua y su Fobal Cientifico (Uruguay Division Five) and Fundación Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon Division Three) would all have to be disappointed.
Grilled International's defensive midfielder Kang Hock Heng would endure a long bidding war, before confirming a move to American VI.183 debutants Kansa scit. Eric Guentert evidently admired Kang sufficiently to lay out some S$250,000, which is not a small sum for a new club, by any means, and quite a bit more than what they had paid for fellow apprentices Carlos Daniel Botero and Henrik Kihlerberg.
Established Swiss Division Three side Crown Royal Maple Finished went in hard for Kang too, and might even have been his preferred destination, but were ultimately unable to match Guentert's promises. Orfeas FC 2019 (Greek Division Five), Córdoba Atlético (Spanish Division Three), Baltovenaars (Dutch Division Six), F.C. MatiaReal (Italian Division Seven), Efraim (Romanian Division Six), -MOHERY- (Polish Division Seven), f.c. 4marine bis (Italian Division Seven), FC DAC-68 (Spanish Division Five), Vinco Vici Victum (Dutch Division Six) and Sultans of Wing (Brunei Division Three) were all involved in some capacity.
Last but not least, the Chicken Wings' 18 year-old Abraham Mathew snagged a free transfer to newly-founding Sentosa fourth divisioners, Kampong Glam FC. Set up by management linked to Norwegian long-timers Drum & Monkey, Kampong Glam FC's gaffer Francisco Simão Miranda has cast his net wide in order to bolster his initial squad, and Mathew gains the honour of being the first Singaporean transfer, after nine foreign chaps.
Grilled Birds assistant coach Nuh Alawee Ramli warned observers not to overlook Mathew's qualities, regardless. "If he had been just a bit younger, he would have been much more highly talked up." Ramli said. "He's a guy who can play about any position in midfield or defence, at a high level. If Kampong Glam FC cultivate him well, they should have a very useful player on their hands."
