Valuable veteran: Malaysia’s Brendan Gan (third from right) in action against South Korea’s Hwang Hee-chan in the Asian Cup. — Reuters
PETALING JAYA: Brendan Gan’s future with Selangor is still under question but the club are hopeful of securing his services for the new season.
Selangor chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Johan Kamal Hamidon said that they are speaking to the player about extending his stay with the club but is aware there is strong interest in the 35-year-old from other clubs.
The Red Giants are making daily announcements on the players staying with the club but many fans are looking forward to seeing if Brendan, who is the team captain, will stay on for the 2024-2025 season.
“We are announcing bit by bit. In two weeks, we will know the full squad. The details of the agreement for the other players are being assessed and discussed,” said Johan.
“Brendan has attracted much interest from a lot of clubs after his performances in the Asian Cup. We are talking to him and a lot of other players. We will see in two weeks time.
“We are happy with the result last year, where we finished second and got the Asian Champions League Two (ACL 2) spot, so we will just top up a bit. We want to maintain the core and make some improvements here and there.”
Meanwhile, Johan said the Petaling Jaya Stadium is being refurbished to suit the standards set by the Asian Football Confederation for the ACL 2 competition.
“The Municipal Council is helping Selangor to prepare well for the ACL 2. We want to ensure we meet AFC standards. The seating, lighting, sound system and everything. All this work will be done by April.”
On whether he would take up the offer from the Youth and Sports Ministry and Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim to fix Zeon Zoysia pitches, he said the club were still deliberating over it.
“For now, we are seriously deliberating the offer from the ministry and TMJ. We will focus on the drainage first because that’s important. We are looking at a timeline because a pitch, for it to be fully ready, takes six to eight months.
“Changing the pitch now would be too fast.”
