Brincat rejects Birkirkara offer, set to join Sliema

Birkirkara's hopes of clinging on to their international midfielder Joe Brincat suffered a setback yesterday when the former Hamrun and Floriana schemer turned down their offer for a contract renewal.

Speculation has been rife over the past few weeks that the out-of-contract Brincat was close to moving to Sliema Wanderers only a few weeks after helping Birkirkara to a double success in the Trophy and Super Cup competitions.

Victor Zammit, the Birkirkara FC president, confirmed to The Times that negotiations with Brincat over a new deal had stalled.

"We have made an offer to Brincat which is the maximum according to the MFA guidelines on players' payments but he turned us down as he has decided to accept a better offer from Sliema Wanderers," Zammit said.

Contacted by The Times yesterday, Brincat confirmed that he had failed to reach an agreement to stay with Birkirkara.

"Things will be clearer tomorrow (today) but I turned down Birkirkara's offer," Brincat said.

The 32-year-old Malta international midfielder said he has had talks with Sliema but would not be drawn into discussing the financial details of the offer from the Blues.

Robert Arrigo, president of Sliema Wanderers said: "Negotiations with Brincat over his move to Sliema are at a very advanced stage. Brincat has accepted our conditions in line with our players' payment scheme which was introduced last year."

Faced with the question whether Brincat has been persuaded to join Sliema by the magnitude of their offer, Arrigo said: "Many people have suggested that Sliema have made a mega offer to Brincat but that is untrue.

"As I said, the financial conditions offered to the player are according to our wage structure... full stop. When Brincat joined Birkirkara four years ago, he did so because their offer was the most attractive. This time, it looks like Brincat will be signing for us."