Lim Refresh
The Farmer Bunnies might be in trouble, but they are at least certainly not skimping on personnel yet. At nearly S$13 million, 20 year-old
Lim Su Liang topped the fee paid for
Djoko Tambusai, and is the Buns' second most-expensive buy ever, behind only
Morgan Hu. Like Hu and Tambusai, however, Lim does have the pedigree to back the price up, with the latest official outing for Singapore coming earlier this month, in an U-20 World Cup Group 15 qualification game against El Salvador.
A 5-3 U21 Asia-Oceania Cup win against Qatar yesterday made it seven U-20 caps for Lim, who will certainly be looking to add to that number at senior level. That, of course, will be a long and hard road for even one of his stature, but from the two Maltese Division Three titles he has garnered with Lokomotiv Pannocchia since his transfer from St. Xavier's FC, he is no stranger to either pressure or success.
Lim has been identified as a fullback who is comfortable operating on either flank, and although his lack of goals has been held against him - with the only one of his career thus far gotten against semi-pro Dodo Club in the first cup round - there could be no complaints about his commitment in defense. He will claim the Number 24 shirt to begin his Bunnies career, with his favoured Number Two still in the possession of
Tham Leng Teck, whom he will be expected to understudy.
An approach by Spanish fifth division club RRDG F.C. reportedly drove the selling price up, but head coach
Dalibor Kostadinović thought Lim well worth the premium. "There really aren't that many local fullbacks of his quality around, so it's no surprise that the fee gets bid up. The club will not compromise on potential."
While there was no hiding that the Buns were a team on the decline, it does still retain something of a draw for such ambitious fellows, the opportunity to grow alongside other young internationals such as
Richard Agyei,
Djoko Tambusai and
Aitykul Zaripbekov aside. "I often reviewed Bunnies matches at the academy, they were one of the best backlines in Singapore for a time." Lim revealed. "Tham was one of those I most looked up to, and hopefully I can eventually live up to his standards."
