Singapore footballer Ilhan Fandi, the third son of former Singapore football legend Fandi Ahmad will join his new club from January next year after the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup, as a press conference held on 13 Dec revealed.
Ilhan, who scored 17 goals in the 2022 Singapore Premier League season with Albirex has now completed his transfer from Albirex Niigata Football Club (Singapore) to Belgian second-division side KMSK Deinze.
“I am privileged and honoured to be given the opportunity to play in Belgium. I will do my best for the team and make Singapore proud as well. I’m blessed and grateful for the opportunity given,” said Ilhan who was named the AIA Young Player of the Year at the Football Association of Singapore Awards Night 2022 last month.
Ilhan expressed his thanks to the club owner and said that it has always been his dream to play in Europe since he was young and although there were offers from the United States and Thailand, moving to Europe is the right choice for him.
“Now I am given the opportunity, so I have to do my best. There were a few offers, but I was still too focused on the Singapore Cup, and a few weeks ago I started to think. This opportunity does not come just like that, so I have to really think hard and make my decision to join KMSK Deinze. If I do well, I may inspire Asians, not just Singaporeans, to do the same as me. This is the best option for me,” explained the 20-year-old.
Albirex chairman Daisuke Korena believes that Ilhan’s move to Belgium will spark a wave of excitement among other young Singapore footballers, and it will improve the standard of football in this country.
“I believe that this transfer has the potential to be a major turning point in Singaporean football. Of the 26 Japanese players selected for the 2022 World Cup, 19 were active in Europe. Japan was able to advance to the best 16 with victories over Germany and Spain, two strong teams internationally. I believe that the players’ experience in Europe was a big factor in their success,” said Korenaga.
“Similarly, the number of Singaporean players playing in Europe is expected to increase, which will improve the level of Singapore’s national football team. I feel that this partnership will promote exchanges between Singapore and Europe and provide a concrete career path for the young players who will play football in Singapore in the future. We look forward to making Singapore football even more competitive.”
Hiroyuki Ono, CEO of ACA Football Partners and owner of KMSK Deinze also announced a comprehensive alliance between Deinze and Albirex with the aim of expanding the football business between Asia and Europe.
“We are pleased to welcome Ilhan, a promising star of Singaporean football, to KMSK Deinze and to be working together with Albirex Niigata FC Singapore. The players in our academy from PVF in Vietnam, who have been with us since Fall 2022, are growing day by day with the stimulation they are receiving in Belgium,” said Ono.
“Football is very popular in Singapore, and we feel that this partnership with Deinze will provide an opportunity for Asian players to gain new experiences. We are looking forward to seeing Ilhan’s success as well as the development of measures to connect Europe and Asia, including collaboration between the academies.”
The partnership between the two clubs includes training exchange programmes for their academy players and a comprehensive cooperation aiming towards top team exchanges, including the development of a network of scouting teams.
Deinze is currently on 21 points in the eighth position in the Challenger Pro League with five matches to go in the regular season before the 12-team league splits into the top six and bottom six formats to fight for promotion and relegation, respectively.
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