New City capture Mifsud keen to make up for lost time

Michael Mifsud is keen to make up for lost time after inking a short-term deal with Valletta earlier this week.

"Valletta are a club with a great history," Mifsud told reporters at a packed Valletta FC trophy hall yesterday evening.

"I'm delighted to be playing for Valletta for the final months of this season. My aim is to win an honour with this team.

"My break from club football has not diminished my enthusiasm for the game. I continued to train seriously with the national squad and for this I'm grateful to the national coaches (John Buttigieg and Carmel Busuttil).

"I love to play at the National Stadium and I'm really excited by the prospect of making my mark for Valletta over the next two months. I'm determined to make up for lost time."

After his contract with Coventry City ran out at the end of last season, Mifsud was at the centre of transfer speculation for much of the past eight months but for reasons he prefers to keep for himself, the 28-year-old decided to bide his time.

His somewhat long sabbatical from club football encouraged Maltese teams to step up their efforts to get him on board for the decisive stage of the season but it was Valletta who won a three-way race for his signature.

"Birkirkara, Hibs and Sliema Wanderers were also interested and I must say they were all very professional in their approach," Mifsud said.

"It was hard for me to turn down Sliema because they are my home club. Sliema will always be close to my heart but football is my livelihood and I wanted to make the decision that I think is best for my career at this moment in time.

"I have the utmost respect for the Wanderers but everyone knows that Valletta are the best-supported club in Malta.

"In evaluating my options, I also looked at the title chances of the teams who were after my services. Valletta and Birkirkara are the two main contenders for the championship now. With Valletta, I have a chance of playing more games because they have reached the semi-finals of the Anniversary Cup and are also in the last eight of the FA Trophy."

Victor Sciriha, the Valletta president, gave a detailed account of the events leading up to the conclusion of negotiations with Mifsud on Monday night.

"A player of Mifsud's stature would boost any team," Sciriha said.

"Other clubs were very keen on Mifsud and I think Valletta were the last to make an approach in the past few days.

"I called Michael on Saturday and we agreed to meet the following day. Now I can reveal that talks with Mifsud were virtually concluded on Sunday but I wanted to discuss this move with the other members of the committee before sealing the deal.

"I also sought advice from the team's senior players as I wanted to make sure that the signing of a new player wouldn't undermine the excellent atmosphere in our squad.

"The players are aware of Mifsud's potential and they gave me the go-ahead to sign him. The coach had told me at the start of the season to go for Mifsud."

In the early years of his tenure as president of Marsaxlokk, Sciriha had gone to great lengths to tempt Mifsud to join the Southerners but the latter eventually opted to rejoin Sliema on a six-month deal after ending his spell with Kaiserslautern.

Mifsud's decision in 2004 irked Sciriha so much that the medicine mogul ruled out the possibility of making another bid for the Malta striker in the future.

"This must be the first time in my life that I didn't stick to my guns but I've put the interests of the club first before personal pride," Sciriha told The Times.

"For me, Valletta FC and the fans always come first, they really mean the world to me.

"I know how strongly they feel about the club and their love for Valletta FC is what really drives me to keep investing in this team. In the last few years, we have assembled an awesome squad and Mifsud's signing was the remaining piece in the jigsaw for this season."

Ton Caanen, the Valletta coach, hailed Mifsud's signing as a plus for the club.

"For Valletta FC, this is a very good signing," Caanen said.

"Michael Mifsud gives us an added plus. We already had a strong squad but everywhere in Europe, the top clubs have more than one striker."

Mifsud's participation in Saturday's game against Sliema Wanderers is in the balance as his registration requires the approval of the MFA Executive Committee.