Den Ouden, Borg keen to make City impact

Geert den Ouden and Steve Borg spoke of their desire to help Valletta attain their objectives this season after both were presented to the media yesterday.

Towering forward Den Ouden, who turned out for De Graafschap in the Dutch top division last season, has signed a one-year deal with an option of another year while Borg, who was on the books of Mosta, has inked a five-year contract.

"Winning the league is the most important thing for this club," Den Ouden said, "and I promise to do everything I can to help them achieve this goal."

Borg relishes the prospect of striking success with Valletta.

"My aim is to win honours and improve myself as a player over the next five years," Borg said.

News that Borg had pledged his future to Valletta came as a surprise to many as Sliema were thought to be in pole position to sign him.

The Malta U-21 defender admitted that he was in two minds about which club to join but Valletta's bold approach persuaded him to accept their offer.

"A number of clubs called to express their interest," Borg said.

"Valletta were the last club to approach me. For a time, it looked as though I was on my way to Sliema and to be honest, when Valletta made contact I was a bit confused as to which of the two I was going to choose.

"Sliema and Valletta are big clubs here and challenge for the top honours on a regular basis. In the end, I opted for Valletta because they showed more determination to get me. I also spoke to the coach before I signed and was pleased with what he told me."

Nicky Saliba, Valletta's team manager who played a key role in Borg's transfer, pointed out that his club decided to go for Borg after Josef Mifsud moved to Sliema.

"When Mifsud left, we felt that we needed another player in the same position and our attention immediately turned to Borg," Saliba said.

"But, as the president (Victor Sciriha) said, it wasn't difficult to conclude his transfer."

At the start of yesterday's news conference, a beaming Sciriha voiced his satisfaction at the double signing of Den Ouden and Borg.

"Geert's international transfer certificate has been received and he is available to play in Europe," Sciriha said.

"It's an honour for us to have such a high-profile player in our team. I'm confident that Geert will be a valid asset for Valletta.

"With regards to Steve Borg, he looked heading elsewhere but once we identified him as one of our targets, it only took us two hours to agree a deal.

"I wish Steve and Geert success with our club."

Ton Caanen, Valletta's Dutch coach, rates Den Ouden very highly.

"I'm very pleased that Valletta have signed Geert," Caanen said. "He's one of the most popular strikers in the Netherlands and in Sweden where he also had a successful spell.

"Since my appointment as Valletta coach, I've been saying that we needed a typical no.9 striker. We had two players on trial, Sendley Bito and Leon Kantelberg, who did quite well in the short time they were with us but I told the president that if we didn't find the right foreigners, we would try to go for local players.

"With Geert, I know what I'm getting. He's been playing professional football for 12 years and I'm sure that he will also inspire the younger players at Valletta. His qualities also increase my tactical options."

Caanen confessed that Borg was something of an unknown quantity to him but he has heard many positive things about the young defender.

"I didn't know much about Steve," Caanen said.

"I've been told that he is very promising but I also made some homework about him. I know that he was in the U-21 team that played against Ukraine recently and I phoned two friends there to ask for their opinion about him. They told me that he was calm on the ball and concentrated during that match.

"With the arrival of these two players, our squad is complete."

Den Ouden, who scored two goals in 14 appearances for De Graafschap last season, confirmed that Caanen was key to his decision to join Valletta.

"Two weeks ago I received a call from Ton," Den Ouden said.

"He told me about his appointment as Valletta coach and spoke enthusiastically about his plans for this club, and the people of Valletta.

"Ton being the coach here and with Jordi Cruyff also joining the team, I decided to sign for this club.

"Everyone here has made me feel welcome. People treat me as a guest but I want to get used to the habits of the Maltese because I want to settle down as quickly as possible."