BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
It seems that Selangor have secured the signing of Indonesian duo Evan Dimas Darmono and Ilham Armaiyn.
On Saturday morning, photos have circulated of the two signing their contracts with the Red Giants, as accompanied by their agent and Selangor club secretary-general Rosman Ibrahim.
The duo, who recently won the Liga 1 title with Bhayangkara FC and have made appearances for the Indonesia national team, were also pictured holding aloft their own Selangor kits, with the 21-year old Ilham given the number 18 kit, and 22-year old Evan assigned to number 6.
Selangor manager Abdul Rauf Ahmad confirmed their signings to Goal in a brief text message: "Yes they have joined us, the contracts are for one year."
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Selangor head coach Maniam Pachaiappan on Thursday had told Goal that they were close to signing the duo, while the team itself will only be using four foreign signings as opposed to the allowed maximum five, beginning in the 2018 season.
They now have one more foreign slot to fill, and are rumoured to be close to signing Persija Jakarta's Brazilian defender Wilian Pacheco. Spanish striker Rufino Segovia's contract meanwhile had been extended for the 2018 season.
On the same day, their chances of participating in the 2018 AFC Cup were also confirmed in a statement made by the Malaysian FA (FAM).
FAM secretary-general Dato' Hamidin Amin on Saturday confirmed that if 2017 Super League champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (FC) qualify for the 2018 AFC Champions League through the playoff stage, their automatic AFC Cup slot would be handed to Selangor.
This is because although the Red Giants only finished in sixth spot in 2017, they are the best finishers in the standings with an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club licence, after JDT and runners up Pahang. Pahang had declined to take part in the AFC Cup in the coming season, citing the need to focus on domestic competitions.
