Billy Mehmet
KUCHING: Former Kedah and Republic of Ireland Under-21 striker Billy Mehmet has confirmed that he is joining Sarawak next season.
It was learned that the 30-year-old flew in from London on Tuesday to finalise the deal.
Mehmet who scored 23 goals in 26 appearance for the Canaries in all competitions last season, took to his personal Twitter account to reveal the news on joining the Crocs.
“Happy to have signed with @SarawakCrocs for next season looking forward to a new challenge thanks to @Ballers_London and @Scottollernshaw,” he tweeted on Thursday.
Yesterday, Sarawak’s import striker Ryan Griffith responded to Mehmet’s potential transfer. Under his Twitter handler @RyuGriff, the Australian hitman tweeted: “From playing footy with @AdamGriffo8 to myself. Unlucky for u! welcome to the club @billy mehmet looking forward to playing along side u.”
Mehmet responded to the tweet, saying that he was looking forward to teaming up with Griffith.
Despite Mehmet’s goals in the second-tier Malaysian Premier League last season, Kedah failed to win promotion to the Super League.
Mehmet joined Kedah from I-League side Dempo S.C and helped the northern Peninsular team to reach the semi-finals of the 2014 Malaysia Cup , where they lost to eventual winners Pahang 6-3 on aggregate.
He is a product of the West Ham United Academy, having signed for the club at the age of eight. At 19, he moved to Dunfernmline Athletic and spent seven years in Scotland which included a five-year stint with St Mirren where he made 154 appearances.
Mehmet is quite a journeyman, having featured for Turkish Super Lig sides Genclerbirligi, Samsunspor and Bangkok Glass of Thailand. He also spent two seasons in the A-League with Perth Glory.
However, Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) has yet to confirm on the signing when contacted yesterday.
Sarawak still have room for two more foreign import players after releasing injury prone star-striker Muamer Salibasic and Lebanese Hassan El-Mohamed . The Crocs have retained the service of Griffiths and Hungarian defender Gabor Gyepes.
The Crocs is in need of quality signings for the 2015 season following an exodus of key players including Junior Eldstal and Chanturu Suppiah who have signed for JDT.
Sarawak have also released long-serving custodian Sani Anuar Kamsani, Mafry Balang, Mohamad Rashid Mohamed Aya, Zamri Morshidi, Azizan Saperi, Reeshafiq Alwi and Mohd Lot Abu Hassan and former national striker Akmal Rizal.
Those in last season’s squad who have signed for the new season are goalkeepers Mohd Fadzley Abdul Rahim and Aidil Mohamad, defenders Muhammad Dzulfadli Awg Marajeh, Mazwandi Zakeria, Mohd Dzulazlan Ibrahim, Mohd Hairol Mokhtar, Rames Lai Ban Huat, Ronny Harun, midfielders Ashri Chuchu, Mohd Shahrol Saperi and team captain Joseph Kalang Tie.
FAS is still observing Dalglish Papin Test while two of last season President’s Cup players, Shreen Tambi and goalie Florian Rison Laes, would be promoted to the senior squad.
In addition, the Crocs have added to their squad with the signing of six new local imports namely promising Sabah midfielder Sabri Sahar, goalkeeper Mohd Iqbal Suhaimi from Pahang, Selangor defender Varadhan Arumugam and Perak trio Partiban Janasekaran, Mahadevan Gangadheran and Mohd Nazri Mohd Kamal.
Import players registration for the 2015 season closes on Dec 5.