Four players from Kedah’s highly rated U-21 squad will be travelling to Wales for a short stint with Cardiff City FC in January 2015, ahead of the upcoming season of President Cup.
The announcement was made in a special press conference that was held at the Welsh capital yesterday, with Cardiff applauding Kedah FA President, Tan Sri Mukhriz Mahathir for spearheading the groundbreaking effort.
“We support Dato Sri Mukhriz’s excellent initiative and look forward to welcoming the young Malaysian footballers from Kedah State FC to Cardiff City. Spending time here will allow them to gain invaluable football experience in the UK, enhance their football careers and experience a different culture,” Cardiff City CEO, Ken Choo told the club’s official website.
Naturally, as part of the Academy group, they will also witness our senior professionals in action on match-days and in a training environment. At Cardiff City we have strong U21 and U18 squads. This year, for example, our U21 team has already drawn 1-1 at Manchester United and has beaten Chelsea 2-1. The young Malaysian players will come into a positive, winning environment.”
The four players will be based in Wales for one month, and will be integrated into the Bluebirds’ highly acclaimed youth set-up, where they will be under the tutelage of academy manager, James McCarthy.
“As a Club and Academy we thrive on working with promising young talent. Our U18s are currently second in the Academy Premier League and in the quarter-finals of the FAW Youth Cup, while a number of our youngsters have gained international recognition with Wales at U21, 19, 17 & 16 levels,” James acclaimed.
“This stands as a fine example of the work we do at Cardiff City and the flourishing environment into which our Malaysian guests will be coming. We very much look forward to their arrival next month.”
This particular arrangement comes as no surprise after Cardiff City signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kedah FA last year to further develop the positive relationship in terms of talent development and sharing of ideas as well as methods.
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