Nursery product Zammit seals four-year City contract
Floriana's Cassar signs on for three more years
Up-and-coming forward Ian Zammit has pledged his future to Valletta after signing a four-year contract.
The 19-year-old has come by leaps and bounds in recent years, establishing himself as one of Valletta's best assets.
Zammit's emergence as a high-level performer and mounting speculation that other Premier League clubs were chasing his signature prompted Valletta to open contract discussions with the Malta U-21 international.
Contacted by The Times, Zammit confirmed that he has just inked a four-year deal with the Citizens.
"I have signed a contract that will keep me at Valletta until the end of season 2009-2010," Zammit said.
"It was my wish to stay with my home club."
Zammit's progress is a feather in the cap of the Valletta FC nursery.
Headed by Kevin Gauci, the Valletta nursery is clearly fulfilling its role as a feeder to the first team with several homegrown players already forming part of Paul Zammit's senior squad.
Apart from Zammit, the likes of goalkeeper Miguel Montfort, Jonathan Bondin, Steve Bezzina, Dylan Zarb, Justin Grioli, Kurt Magro and Mark Barbara all came through the Valletta nursery.
"We've got a young squad at Valletta with a number of players coming up from the nursery," Zammit said. "I believe the future of this squad is very bright.
"This year, we have already shown a considerable improvement and I'm optimistic about our chances of making the top six."
Meanwhile, Floriana, Valletta's fiercest rivals, have also reached agreement with key midfielder Christian Cassar over a new contract.
Cassar, an illustrious product of the reputable Floriana nursery, this week put pen to paper on a three-year deal. The talented midfielder, 23, is a first-team regular for Floriana and also forms part of the pool of players in Dusan Fitzel's national squad.
Floriana official Mark Piscopo said the club were also holding contract talks with a host of other players, namely goalkeeper Matthew Camilleri, Chris Caruana and Manolito Micallef.
The Greens are also working to recruit a new foreign player in January and have reportedly set their sights on a Brazilian midfielder who has a Portuguese passport.