Safee finally set to leave Selangor for Pelita Jaya

PETALING JAYA: Striker Mohd Safee Sali is set to leave the Red Giants for Pelita Jaya FC of Indonesia during the transfer window later this month.

It is learnt that Safee has agreed to ply his trade in the Indonesia Super League (ISL) and that an official announcement would be made by the FA of Selangor (FAS) at the Yayasan FAS in Kelana Jaya on Monday.

It was earlier reported that Safee was being sought after by three Indonesian clubs – Balik Papan, Persib Bandung and Pelita Jaya.

The 26-year-old hotshot starred in the national team’s success in the Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) championships last December.

Safee is expected to earn more than double the salary Selangor are paying him.

The FAS are also expected to be well compensated by the Indonesian club side, who will buy out Safee’s contract.

Pelita Jaya, who finished 15th in the ISL last season, have never shied away from recruiting big names.

In the mid-90s, they recruited the likes of Mario Kempes, Roger Milla, Jules Onana and Maboang Kessack.

Selangor, under coach K. Devan, are a well-balanced side but they will surely miss the services of their ace striker even though they can still fall back on Mohd Amri Yahyah, Mohd Hardi Jaafar, Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal, Rudie Ramli and Mohd Shahzwan Fitri.

They also have new signings in attack – Mohd Fadli Saari, Azidan Sarudin and S. Sitharan.

Selangor lost their Charity Shield match to Kelantan 0-2 in the opening Super League fixture on Jan 29 but bounced back to beat Perlis 2-0 in the following game.