Three new foreigners, a Swede, a Croat and a Uruguayan for reigning league champions Singapore Armed Forces, as reported by the Straits Times today. None of them had prior experience playing in Southeast Asia, let alone the continent.
For the Warriors to make such an extensive effort in scouring around the globe for their new foreign signings signals their seriousness in wanting to be competitive in Asia after having a taste of how elite club football was like in the AFC Champions League at the first half of the year.
As the leading club in this football-mad nation, they are now setting the tone in the hunt for quality players who can regenerate the domestic scene following a dour 2009. For the last few seasons, virtually every local club was guilty of being content with familiarity and cost-effectiveness in their search for imports.
The trade-off was eventually a dour league that culminiated in what was the worst season ever this year, despite the few highs such as SAFFC in the Champions League and a foreign team winning a local competition. Staying in Singapore for too long has led to a deterioration in the playing qualities of several long-serving imports. They had served the league well in the past, but they are no longer the same as they were in their prime.
The best and most well-off clubs have the resources to go around the globe to hunt for talent, but how about the more modest teams who may not have the resources as those of the bigger teams?
A proposed solution is to get creative and also get down to player-hunting in Japan and South Korea, instead of waiting for connections from other people or getting lucky in their picks.
In recent seasons, there has been a quiet increase in former J.League players (not those who spent so much of their time there warming the bench) plying their trade here. Tetsuya Okayama, now retired after a stint with Albirex Niigata (Singapore), once played alongside legendary England predator Gary Lineker in Nagoya Grampus Eight then coached by Arsene Wenger.
Then there was one-time All-Star defender Haruki Seto and this season, former Kashima Antlers defender Seiji Kaneko joined Tampines Rovers and contributed significantly to his team being the stingiest defence in the league.
If sushi is not to the clubs' liking, there is still kimchi. SAFFC winger Park Tae Won was the trailblazer with his heroics with Jurong FC, Balestier Khalsa and Woodlands Wellington before moving to his present employers.
Regular K-League stalwart and two-time AFC Champions League winner Jeon Kyeong Joon was a hit with Home United before hanging his boots to become Super Reds coach, guiding the Koreans to the league runners-up place in 2008.
In these two markets alone, there are decent players who have plied their trade at the highest levels who have been released by their former clubs. They are generally affordable for the more well-off teams to look and consider.
This has been said in the media previously, and it will be said again. At one time, the league got it right when an exodus of established Thai internationals flocked to our shores to play before the Thai scene improved and the more lucrative V-League came calling.
Now the V-League and Super Liga Indonesia prove more attractive to the region's top players. The Thais and Singaporeans flocked south on the promises of good money and capacity crowds, where both of these are real challenges to all local S.League teams.
Does that mean our local clubs should just resign themselves that the top players in the region are unattainable to our shores? Their attitudes generally seem so, but this should not be the way.
All is not lost. Look at the ongoing SEA Games football tournament and there is some potential talent who could be within their reach budget-wise. Do not just let the Thais or Vietnamese grab them, go for them too.
Raid the Malaysian League for a few gems as well (provided they are also willing to undergo hardship to pass the Beep Test, the once-a-year fitness exam for S.League players) if they dare to. Opportunities are there.
S.League, like the Singapore civil service, is renowned for administrative excellence. But that does not go far in the jungle of football. We are among the so-called Top 10 Asian Leagues because of that. But if other Asian countries wake up from their slumber and catch up, then S.League will be among the minnows.
Minnows do not go to Champions League. Minnows get the bread crumbs left by the larger leagues. Tampines Rovers and now SAFFC are doing their part to avoid that, but are the other local clubs doing enough?
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