Fed Paraded
Grilled Birds boss
Tian Yonghang had evidently not stopped looking around after
Ibnou Balde's acquisition, as he topped that with the S$13 million capture of former Bolivian youth international winger,
Federico Parada. The former .Racing Club de Lens. Number 93 wanted out after a short stay at the Trinidad & Tobago IV.34 club, which had Spanish Division Six club Real Mordor Balompié agree to Paul ter Linde's asking price. Tian would nip in with an improved package, though, and Balompié declined to try and match it.
Tian would have no qualms in assigning the 22 year-old the Number Eight jersey worn by former stars such as Cyril Künzler, Low Aik Jia and Ma Dai-Lin, as he prophesied an outstanding future at Grilled for his new man. "I am not seeing any limits to where Parada can go." Tian declared, without any hint of exaggeration. "I have seen many greats in my time, both as player and then as a coach, on both ends - and I can't recall many, if any, that are as silky a runner as him."
A relevant story would of course be about the Birds' only other Bolivian signing, Christian Mier from almost twenty seasons back. Possessed of many of Parada's raw attributes, if not the price tag, Mier would be advised to leave for better consideration in his national setup, at which Grilled did not stand in his way. He did indeed blossom in Brazil with Real Oriente United, and would eventually earn 17 caps with top Bolivian club, Dinamo Malcriado.
Well, it is not as if Parada is lacking on that end, having already started and scored for the Bolivian U-20 team, in a 2-0 win over Spain. Prior to Lens, he had also strutted his stuff in Italy with AC Mazzocco and in his home country with Sentinel 1A, but in each case his devastatingly efficient dribbling had been coupled with accusations of ball-hogging.
"That's a weaker area of his game." Tian admitted. "But nothing that can't be fixed. Parada has the potential to be truly world-class, and we will be doing all we can to help him realize it!"