Newcomers throw down the gauntlet
Newly-promoted Saif Sporting Club formed a strong squad yesterday which may give the established heavyweights a run for their money in the upcoming football season.
Last season's Bangladesh Championship League runners-up, who have been promoted to the Bangladesh Premier League, signed seven national footballers as well as some promising talents on the penultimate day of the transfer window. In total, they signed 24 local players and three foreigners, from Colombia and Nigeria.
The national booters who will represent Saif SC are defenders Tapu Barman, Ariful Islam and Shakil Ahmed, while their midfield will be bolstered by the likes of Jamal Bhuiyan, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Jewel Rana and Mohammad Ibrahim, who are expected to play pivotal roles if the club are to have success.
The club management also appointed Ghanaian-born British coach Kimberly Grand alongside a British assistant coach as they look to challenge the hegemony in their debut appearance in top-flight football.
"Although we [Saif PowerTec] are involved with a club [Chittagong Abahani], we have felt that we needed our own club to reflect our thinking and long-term plan in football. So when we were given the opportunity to play in the Bangladesh Championship League last year, we took that opportunity seriously and qualified for the top-tier football.
"We want to deliver beautiful football to entertain the spectators and if we can do it, then we will certainly reach our target of winning the league title. However our ultimate target is to take Saif SC to the standard of the subcontinent's other clubs like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Kolkata Mohammedan and produce good results in tournaments organised by the AFC," said Saif SC managing director Nasiruddin Chowdhury during the players' transfers at the BFF House yesterday.
It has been learnt that the club has already spent close to Tk 6 crore, including the expenditure of their pre-season camp in Kolkata.
Saif SC also signed eight young footballers -- who were key cogs behind the club's success in the Bangladesh Championship League -- to four-year deals in a bid to reach their long-term target. They have also kept nine youth players as backups beyond official contracts so that they can pick them up in the mid-season window or play them next season.
Captain Jamal Bhuiyan believes Saif SC have formed a squad which are among the top three and he expects they will be in the race for all trophies next season.
"It is a good mixture of young and experienced players who are hungry for trophies. The young players are really good; striker Motin Mia may be in the national team in the near future. There is also good foreign group. I think we have a good chance to win the league title as well as other cups," said a confident Jamal.
Meanwhile, last season's league runners-up Chittagong Abahani and falling giants Muktijoddha Sangsad KC also completed their players' registration formalities.
"While retaining the services of five players from last season, including Mamunul Islam and Zahid Hossain, we have also picked up those players who had played 90 minutes last season," Chittagong Abahani manager Arman Aziz said. "Despite roping in well-known players last season, we did not get the expect results. So we have formed a youthful squad this time."
Muktijoddha formed a mediocre squad with the expectation of doing better than last season, when the All Reds finished fifth in the professional football league, informed coach Masud Parvez Kaiser.
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