New Sabah Times
BY FRANCIS XAVIER Francis@newsabahtimes.com.my
KOTA KINABALU: Former Montpellier trainee Jonathan Béhé is set to become the third Frenchman to sign for the Sabah Rhinos.
The Marseille-born striker of Ivorian origin arrived in the state capital late last night.
He is set to put pen to paper any time this week. However, his relation with the Sabah FA will be subjected to his medical.
Last Thursday, Jonathan’s countrymen, Adlane Messelem and Steve Vilmiaire, have penned an undisclosed one-year deal with the FA.
Adlane has been appointed as the Sporting Director, while Steve is the head coach for the State Premier League side.
And if everything goes according to plan, Jonathan will be the team’s second foreign signing after Croatian defender Igor Cerina, who has extended his stay with the team for another season.
It is believed that the FA has decided not to renew the contract of Brazilian midfielder Everton Silva Santos as well as Bosnian striker Muamer Salibasic.
They are also unlikely to extend the contract of Indonesian midfielder Dedi Kusnandar, which ends this month. So, the FA will still be looking for another two foreign players, including one for the Asean quota.
It is reliably learnt that there will be several foreign players coming for trials with the team this coming weeks. Back to Jonathan, the 27-year-old began his playing career with professional club Montpellier.
After spending five years at the club’s youth academy, he joined German side Hamburger SV.
But after a short six month stint with the German side, he returned to Montpellier and was placed into the club’s reserve team plying their trade in the French fourth division league.
He then joined semi-professional club Cassis Carnoux before moving to Le Mans followed by a stint with Luch-Energiya.
In 2013, Jonathan signed for Thailand’s outfit BEX Tero Sasana FC, but returned to France in 2015 and signed for SC Le Las.
This year, he made his second appearance in Southeast Asia football, by signing for Warriors FC. The 187cm-tall striker netted 19 goals in 23 games for Warriors FC that made him second joint top scorer for the 2016 S League season.
