Birkirkara have beaten Floriana in the race to secure the signature of former Malta striker Jean Paul Farrugia.
The 30-year-old striker has opted to join Birkirkara on a season-long loan and was expected to attend his first training session with the Stripes on Tuesday evening.
Farrugia’s move to Birkirkara is quite a remarkable turnaround as the veteran forward looked to be set to join Floriana.
In fact, as reported by the Times of Malta negotiations between Floriana FC and Sliema Wanderers have already taken place and an agreement had been reached between the two clubs.
Farrugia was also in advanced talks with the Greens over personal terms and a deal looked imminent.
In fact, on Saturday, Farrugia was at the Tony Bezzina Stadium where he watched Floriana’s 2-0 win over Pietá Hotspurs next to president Johann Said and other club officials.
However, Birkirkara stepped up their bid for the player during the past 48 hours and managed to convince the player to choose to join them on a season-long loan.
In fact, Birkirkara managed to strike a deal with both the club and the player and the player is expected to be registered with the club in the coming hours.
For Farrugia, a move to Birkirkara means an opportunity to reunite with Italian coach Giovanni Tedesco with whom he worked for a short stint last year with the United Arab Emirates club Ras Al Khaimah.
For Birkirkara, on the other hand, the acquisition of Farrugia is a major transfer coup as they seek to put behind them a disappointing 2021-22 campaign which saw them miss out on a top-four placing and a place in a UEFA club competition.
Birkirkara enjoyed a perfect start to their Premier League campaign when last weekend they beat Sirens 2-0.
Coach Tedesco will now hope to have Farrugia available in his squad for Saturday’s league clash against Żebbuġ Rangers.
