Sailors add European pedigree with signing of Belgian winger Lestienne
Singapore Premier League (SPL) defending champions Lion City Sailors have secured the final piece of the jigsaw for their 2022 campaign with the signing of winger Maxime Lestienne on a free transfer from Belgian top-tier side, Standard Liege.
The 29-year-old Belgian winger has inked a two-year deal with the Sailors, and joins the club's foreign quartet which includes Brazilian playmaker Diego Lopes and centre-back Pedro Henrique, and former South Korean captain and striker Kim Shin-wook.
The Sailors declined to reveal the total cost of Lestienne's package but The Straits Times understands that the player will earn more than his annual salary at Standard Liege, which was estimated at 900,000 euros (S$1.38million).
Lestienne, who has 75 goals and 68 assists in 379 matches at club level, has featured in the Uefa Champions League and the lower-tier Europa League. In a 2015 group stage Champions League match, he provided a match-winning assist in PSV Eindhoven's 2-1 victory over Manchester United.
He is expected to give the Sailors a massive edge as they compete on three fronts this year as they embark on their maiden voyage in the Asian Champions League (ACL), attempt to retain their SPL title and win a first Singapore Cup.
Lestienne said in a press statement: "The Sailors' vision of building a strong football culture in a country like Singapore is a project that really excites me. The club's commitment to youth development and improving football capabilities only adds to the allure of its drive for success on the pitch."
Lestienne has been capped at all Belgian youth levels and has received several call-ups to the national team as recently as 2019 - for the Red Devils' Euro 2020 qualifiers - but he has yet to win a senior cap.
In 2016, he was also the subject of a 10 million euros transfer from Qatari club Al-Arabi to Russian side Rubin Kazan. A direct winger blessed with a turn of pace, an eye for a pass and the ability to deliver quality balls from set-pieces, Lestienne will add to the wide, attacking options at the club which include the SPL's Players of the Year Faris Ramli (2019) and Gabriel Quak (2020).
Sailors chief executive officer Chew Chun-Liang believes that with the club's final foreign player on board, there will be much to look forward to in the 2022 season.
He said: "It is important that we continue to bring in top-quality players like Lestienne, Henrique and Shin-wook to boost our domestic and regional ambitions, while also continuing to deliver excellence and excitement to the Singapore football fraternity.
"Their presence will rub off on local players as well, serving both as an inspiration and helping raise professional standards at the club."
The Sailors have dug deep into their pockets in recent times, signing Lopes last year in a league-record 1.8 million euros deal from then-Portuguese top-division club Rio Ave before adding Kim and Henrique in deals worth over $3 million and $2 million respectively.
They also have recruited Singapore internationals, goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud and midfield enforcer M. Anumanthan.
Their latest signing Lestienne is expected to arrive in Singapore prior to the opening of the SPL on Feb 19 when the Sailors face Albirex Niigata in the AIA Community Shield.
Head Coach Kim Do-hoon believes that Lestienne will be the final piece in the puzzle as he looks to build on the team who won their maiden title in his first season.
Said Kim: "Lestienne will give us added quality in the attacking third with his technical ability, and he will help take us to the next level as we move towards being competitive against the best clubs in Asia at the ACL.
"The team is improving with each training session so far, but there is still a lot of work ahead of us, and with the quality and professionalism that Lestienne adds to our dressing room, I'm confident we'll get there faster."
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