Umut Cosies Up
Grilled International's youth recruitment would continue with the acquisition of Turkish playmaker
Umut Koza, who will be turning eighteen shortly, for the relatively modest fee of S$100,000. Formerly of Turkish fifth division club es es city, Koza would start two friendlies with them, before Ukrainian head coach Ivan Garas advised him to seek greener pastures. This he did, with
Didi Reidenbach happy enough to integrate him into the squad.
A tall lad, Koza is one very much in the mould of Bezhanishvili, but Reidenbach assessed him as a quite different type of player despite the superficial similarities. "His natural instinct is to push forward, unlike Leri." the head coach said. "This should keep them from eating into each other's space."
Koza would claim the Number Fifteen shirt, newly relinquished by founding team member Subhi bin Kamil, upon his retirement. According to Reidenbach, he is however unlikely to start the league game on Saturday, due to a lack of time to complete the fitness tests and bedding-in procedures.