Safee is hot stuff

PETALING JAYA: National striker Mohd Safee Sali is now a wanted man.

Three Indonesian clubs are interested in hiring Mohd Safee to play for them in this month’s Indonesian Super League (ISL).

“Three clubs called me personally and they are all keen to sign Mohd Safee,” said Datuk Hamidin Mohd Ali, the FA of Selangor (FAS) secretary, yesterday.

Mohd Safee is a much-soughted after player after his exploits with the national team in the just-concluded Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championships.

Malaysia emerged as champions, thanks to Mohd Safee’s goals. He was on target five times, including scoring thrice in the two-leg final against Indonesia. Malaysia won 4-2 on aggregate.

Although Hamidin refused to reveal the names of the clubs, it is learnt that among the clubs keen on Mohd Safee are Persib Bandung and Pelita Jaya.

“Nothing has been finalised yet because Mohd Safee has a contract with the FAS until December 2011.

“The clubs are even willing to buy out his contract. We have no problem with that but we want to ensure Mohd Safee gets the best deal. It is his future and we want the best for him and his playing career.

“Besides that, a top club from Vietnam is also interested in Mohd Safee. He will talk to us before making his decision,” added Hamidin.

Persib Bandung, who finished fourth in the ISL last season, have a number of Indonesian national players – Uruguay-born striker Christian Gonzales, Mahman Abdurachman, Eka Ramdani and goalkeeper Markus Harison – in their team.

For the record, Persib were also one of Indonesian clubs who managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League.

Pelita Jaya also have a good track record but did not do well last year.

The club finished 15th in the ISL. In the mid 1990s, they recruited several World Cup players like Mario Kempes, Roger Milla, Jules Onana and Maboang Kessack.

Besides Mohd Safee, two other Malaysian players – Norsharul Idlan Talaha and Mohd Amirul­hadi Zainal – have also attracted the attention of the Indonesian clubs.

Meanwhile, Mohd Safee left with the Selangor team for Perth yesterday.

The team, under coach K. Devan, are scheduled to play three friendly matches against Bayswater FC (Jan 3), Perth Glory (Jan 5) and Stirling Lions (Jan 7) as part of their pre-season training. The Red Giants will return home on Jan 9. Selangor will play Kelantan in the Charity Shield, the M-League season’s opener, on Jan 29.