Elite League outfit and traditional Georgetown heavyweight Santos Football Club has acquired the services of four players pending confirmation by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), following the conclusion of the latter’s 2020/2021 Pre-Season Transfer Window.
This was revealed by Team Manager Earl ‘Sleepy’ Paul during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday. According to Paul, the quartet of Delon Lanferman, Nicholas MacArthur, Jamal Butts and Marcus Carter have been acquired during the recently concluded transfer window.
The trio of Lanferman, MacArthur and Carter were obtained from two -time defending Elite League champion and Tucville giant Fruta Conquerors, while Jamal Butts was acquired from New Amsterdam (NA) United of Berbice. He stated that the club has been in contact with the federation to confirm the respective transfer and is simply waiting for the requisite ratification from the local governing body. Paul elaborated, “We waiting on the GFF to send the information out to the media.
We placed third in the GFF Year-end tournament, we had some good players then and with these additional players, we could go for the league championship and any tournament that we are participating in.”
According to Paul, the club has been fortunate not to lose players during the previous transfer periods, which is a major advantage to the team’s effort to develop a quality roster and is testament to the institution’s focus on youth development.
He revealed, “No one has left the club. This is the second season that we have not lost any players in the transfer window. The majority of our players are youth, we have a good youth structure and instead of youth players leaving us, they are coming to play with us. We even had to turn away some more youth players because everyone can’t play so it’s a benefit, it’s a plus.”
However, Paul conceded that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic could eradicate the club’s recent recruitment drive as players could easily opt to leave during the next window, which is penciled for the period of January 2021 due to the lack of football. He also noted that the resumption of football seems very unlikely in the current climate which could have an impact on the decision of players to move.
Paul added, “That is it, to acquire these players and still might not get to play them. Then the recruitment will not be worth it because if no football is played for the remainder of the year and in January they decide they’re leaving, then it’s not worth it and they never get to play for the club.”
The GFF 2020/2021 Pre-Season Transfer Window officially concluded August 23rd. The original transfer period was from June 1st-July 31st. The window was extended in an effort to facilitate the smooth transfer of local players during the covid-19 pandemic.
The decision to extend the transfer period which was endorsed by FIFA Director of Football Regulatory James Kitching, was established following deliberations with its regional member associations, affiliates and elite league clubs.
