Malaysia U-18's Luqman to sign with Belgian top-tier side

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BY        ZULHILMI ZAINAL       Follow on Twitter

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Malaysia U-18 star Luqman Hakim Shamsudin will be signing with Belgian top-tier side club KV Kortrijk (KVK), it was announced on Friday.

In an announcement event that was held with the presence of Malaysia's Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and the club's Malaysian owner Tan Sri Vincent Tan, it was revealed that upon turning 18 in March 2020, the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship joint top-scorer will sign a five-year contract with the club, while in the meantime he will train with another of Vincent's clubs, English side Cardiff City.

Speaking to the press after the event, the Kelantan-born forward revealed his immediate plan, to learn the languages and work on his physique.

"I need to learn to manage everything myself, but I will have an English tutor, so I will have company. And perhaps I need to start learning the local Belgian languages from today as well.

"The players there will be better physically, so I need to also prepare from now on, to work on my physique by developing my muscles in the gym," said the National Football Development Programme trainee.

Vincent meanwhile urged Luqman to work hard to take up the opportunity presented to him.

"Hopefully this (Luqman's signing) will be successful, but it's all down to you, Luqman. You need to be more hardworking in training, start learning English from now, you need to persevere."  

KVK are a club based in the city of Courtray in West Flanders, and had been bought by Vincent in 2015 for €5 million. Although they have never won a major title or played in Europea competitions, the club 's current stint in the top tier, the Belgian First Division A, goes all the way back to the 2008/09 season.

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