TMJ revealed that JDT looked at the possibility of signing Alexandre Pato but was never on the case with Mesut Ozil.
Since 2013 when HRH Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (TMJ) embarked on the Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (JDT) project, there has been many players that have come and gone for the club that has won seven straight Malaysia Super League title.
The biggest name of all during this short period was undoubtedly Argentine Pablo Aimar who left such an indelible mark on the club and propelled their name onto the world football stage but after the former Valencia man left in 2014, there hasn’t been anyone signed that was close to his stature as a player.
Once their appetite has been whetted, the fans of JDT have continually looked to TMJ to bring in the next big name with the likes of Fernando Torres and Lukas Podolski among those suggested. In an interview on Bola @ Mamak on Thursday, TMJ explained why that won’t be possible although he went on to reveal that he was close to getting Alexandre Pato for the 2021 season.
“Yes, many players including Mesut Ozil. After investment in China, UAE, Japan and Korea, it is hard for us to sign any big players.There are no big name players who will sign for anything less than USD2.2 million. For just one player, that doesn’t make sense for the club. We don’t want to use the majority of our financial power for just one player and neglect the others.
“Yesterday (Wednesday) we had a chance with Pato who was available and I found out that it would take around USD1.8 million for his salary but in the end an UAE (United Arab Emirates) team offered USD 2.2 million and we could not compete with that,” said TMJ during the interview.
What that explained is the structure of how JDT work when looking at player transfer and it would suggest that if an opportunity arise for the right price that TMJ would not hesitate to once again have a world renowned player adorning the JDT kit.
But that does not mean JDT will not look to do big things in other departments, just like the new partnership deal signed with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) earlier yesterday that will see the club raising funds for the betterment of children on top of displaying the UNICEF logo on their kit for the coming season.
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