As Adelaide United prepare to take on North Queensland at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night, the Reds have announced they have poached Fury star Osama Malik bringing the talented midfielder back home.
The 20-year-old stormed onto the scene with an impressive 13-minute cameo against J-League super club Gamba Osaka in the Reds 2008 FIFA World Club Cup campaign.
Malik was plucked from SA Super League club Raiders as a 17 year-old and enjoyed a spell in the 2008-09 National Youth League season before being eventually snapped up by the Fury.
Malik will remain with North Queensland until the end of the season before joining United in a two-year deal on April 1, 2011.
Reds coach Rini Coolen admitted he has been impressed with Malik this season, in particular his versatility in playing a variety of positions, before adding luring the young gun back home was also significant.
“He is young, he’s a player we can develop, he can play in several positions like the back line where he playing at the moment with the Fury, but he can also play in the midfield, so that is something good,” Coolen said.
“He’s a talented player and another benefit is, although it is definitely not the main reason we signed him, is that he’s also an Adelaide boy, so that tops it off.”
Despite the timing of the announcement, Coolen doesn’t expect Malik to pull any punches in Friday night’s encounter.
“That’s something that can happen, that’s football and we know that we’ve signed him for next year,” he said.
“It’s better to announce it when you have a deal with a player, why should you keep it quiet. That’s the way it is sometimes, all clubs have to handle it and that’s up to Osama and the club how they handle that, but that happens in football.”
