Kelantan FC’s quest to reinforce themselves for the second half of the 2023 Liga Super Malaysia season has hit a number of major snags as a number of their supposed new foreign players have decided to walk out on the club shortly after their signings were announced on Kelantan’s social media channels, with one even joining one of Kelantan’s Liga Super rivals only hours after his signing was announced by the Red Warriors!
Currently bottom of the Liga Super with just one win to their name all season, Kelantan were desperately in need for reinforcements, however, news of owner Norizam Tukiman’s mismanagement of the club that included unpaid wages for the players overshadowed the Red Warriors’ efforts in the mid-season transfer market.
Kelantan made headlines on May after it was discovered that Norizam had withheld half of his players’ wages due to poor performance and will only give said half to them if they could improve their performances in the league. Safe to say, this did not made anyone happy.
Players such as Carli de Murga, Christian Rontini, Ismahil Akinade, Cifu, Mario Arques and Nurshamil Abd Ghani have left Kelantan due to it’s abysmal financial state and the severe mismanagement done to it by Norizam, and it is possible that said financial crisis and mismanagement is what made the Red Warriors’ mid-season signings to reconsider their decision.
Early this week, Kelantan announced the signings of Ghanaian striker Jordan Mintah, Indonesian midfielder Andik Vermansah, and Egyptian winger Ahmed Magdy through their social media channels, only to subsequently delete all three announcements shortly afterwards.
It was reported that negotiations had broken down between Kelantan and Andik, who had represented the likes of Persebaya Surabaya, Madura United, Selangor FA and Kedah Darul Aman throughout his career, leading to the 31-year old to snub the Red Warriors in the last minute in favor of better options.
Considering Kelantan’s wealth of controversies this season, it is possible that negotiations had broken down between Kelantan and both Jordan and Ahmed as well, leading to the two to bail out in the last minute.
But Kelantan’s comedy of errors did not end there.
On Tuesday morning the Red Warriors announced four more signings – Spanish striker Youssef Ezzejjari, Sierra Leone defender Alie Sesay, Thai-German attacker Dennis Buschening, and Iranian goalkeeper Aliakbar Ahmadi.
However, in a twist of fate, Kelantan’s Liga Super rivals Negeri Sembilan FC announced the signing of former Persik Kediri and Bhayangkara FC striker Ezzejjari on Tuesday night, with the Spaniard, who last played for Khonkaen United in the Thai League, even putting the Jangs‘ official account on his Instagram bio to make things even clearer for all – he’s not going to play for Kelantan.
It was speculated that Ezzejjari was approached by both Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan, with the striker agreeing terms with the latter, only for the former to “jump the gun” and posted the announcement of Ezzejjari’s signing without the knowledge of both player and his agent.
We might not know or may never know the truth behind this convoluted situation, but one thing’s for sure – the Ezzejjari debacle, combined with Andik snubbing the club away, adds more to Kelantan’s already chaotic and tumultuous season.