Malaysian footballers are not likely to play in the Singapore Premier League because the salaries are too low, says Geylang International coach Mohd Noor Ali.
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The former international made these comments at a recent media conference in Penang during the club’s pre-season trip to the northern Malaysian island where they played matches against Penang and Kedah.
Geylang lost both matches 4-0 and 2-1 respectively.
“At the moment I don’t think Malaysian players want to play in the Singapore Premier League because of the significant salary difference, its’ a big gap,” he was recorded as saying on football portal HarimauMalaya.
“Maybe there are one or two clubs that can afford it but for Geylang, we really can’t afford it.”
“But if the club management increases my budget later, I will definitely look for one or two Malaysian players.”
He also added that he was impressed by the physicality of the Malaysian players, compared to the “small Singaporean players”.
“I don’t even know what the Malaysian players eats,” he joked.
He felt that while both matches ended in defeats for Geylang, the trip was not in vain.
“We came here not to look for results but to give our young players experience and feel the experience of playing in high-intensity games,” he told the media.
“In Singapore we don’t get high-intensity games like in the Malaysian League so we feel very proud to be invited to participate in this tournament to meet giant teams like Penang FC and Kedah Darul Aman FC.”
Watch the meeting with the Malaysian media here.
Geylang International will face off against Sabah in their final friendly match on 11 February before returning to Singapore.
MAIN PHOTO: HARIMAUMALAYA