Udwadia For Lokomotiv
18 year-old Grilled International winger Mithun Udwadia would be taken on a free transfer by Russian fifth divisioners Lokomotiv Vladivostok today, less than a week after they had splashed S$10.2 million for Italian Salvatore Oppio, three years his senior. This does mean that the pressure should be off Udwadia, who is already looking forward to wearing the green-and-red hoops of his new employers.
International scout Adinath Pant had taken the plunge on Udwadia after he had been turned down by neighbouring club Red Monika, and would be repaid by his output in training. Few would doubt that Udwadia had the raw pace to be useful on the wings, but the rest of his game would take some time to catch up. While hardly the most polished of Bees graduates, it remained that Udwadia had done well enough to get a foot in the pro game.
It would be the final chance for Udwadia's juniors Aan Sarhadi and Hj Nabil bin Sariful Rizal, however, as the would-be defenders signalled their intent to step away from the scene, after a few fruitless weeks. The Birds' wide midfielder prospect Tim Nguyen would also halt his club search, while Thom Paik would refuse to accept it ending this way - for now.
Udwadia would have some ready role models to look up to, with former Bees academy alumni Mo Mingren and Juli bin Hj Yussof coming on offer, with the latter already having commanded a S$17.9 million fee a few seasons ago, making him perhaps International's most-heralded goalkeeping product. Even that was not enough to overshadow 23 year-old Timbang bin Hj Mohd Hendra, however, with the playmaker finally ready to move on from Italian V.215 club Prenza, having earned fourteen national U-20 caps with them.
It was only natural then that International would find themselves in the discussion, but head coach
Didi Reidenbach balked at the asking price of S$15 million. "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be excited to have Timbang back, but that's just too much. We're not exactly funded by a nation-state here."
