Midfielder Sammut joins star-studded Valletta squad

Valletta yesterday increased their legion of Malta internationals to nine after completing the signing of Kevin Sammut from Marsaxlokk.

Sammut, 28, will ink a five-year contract with Valletta after club president Victor Sciriha successfully concluded talks with Robert Micallef, his Marsaxlokk counterpart, for the transfer of the Malta midfielder.

"Valletta are always challenging for the top honours and my aim is to achieve further success with them," Sammut told The Times.

"Having played for Sliema Wanderers, another club with a glorious history, earlier in my career, I'm delighted to have joined another top team in Valletta FC."

Sciriha, now in his third year at the helm of Valletta, has certainly assembled an awesome squad.

Apart from the three foreigners - Cameroonian winger Doding Priso and Dutch duo Jordi Cruyff and Geert den Ouden - coach Ton Caanen can now count on no fewer than nine established members of the national squad.

At Valletta, Sammut joins fellow internationals Gilbert Agius, the Malta captain, Andrew Hogg, Luke Dimech, Kenneth Scicluna, Roderick Briffa, Jamie Pace, Terrence Scerri, signed from Hibs last week, and Cleaven Frendo who is recovering from a cruciate operation.

The other players in the City squad have also represented the country at different levels.

The depth of Caanen's squad almost scuppered Sammut's transfer hopes as in midweek, it looked as though Valletta, mindful of the existing strong competition for first-team places, were having second thoughts about the deal.

Sammut, the 2007/08 MFA footballer of the year, knows that he has a tough task on his hands to claim a regular place at Valletta.

"I know that I have to work very hard to become a first-team regular but I believe in my capabilities," Sammut said.

During his time with Marsaxlokk, Sammut produced some of his best performances in matches against Valletta. There were occasions when his determined approach incensed the City fans but he's now looking forward to having the supporters on his side.

"I've had many good matches against Valletta in the past," Sammut said.

"I enjoyed playing against them because they bring a lot of people to the stadium but now, I'm really looking forward to having the Valletta fans behind me."

Sammut said he was thankful to Micallef, the Marsaxlokk president, and Sciriha for the respect they've shown him.

"I want to thank Robert Micallef for his understanding," Sammut said.

"I'm also grateful to Victor Sciriha for believing in me for the second time in my career.

It was Mr Sciriha who took me to Marsaxlokk from Sliema and now he has also succeeded in securing my transfer to Valletta."

Sciriha described Sammut's signing as an investment for the present and the future.

"Kevin has long established himself as one of the leading midfielders in the Premier League," Sciriha said.

"We took our time to settle this deal but I'm glad that he is now with us.

"His signing shows that Valletta also have one eye on the future. Some of our players are not getting any younger either and that makes it imperative on us to start to think about their replacements. With Sammut available on the market, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to sign him."

The arrival of Sammut completes Valletta's transfer campaign this summer, Sciriha said.

Asked if the Citizens will now concentrate on trimming their squad, he replied: "We're not looking to reduce numbers but if any of our fringe players ask to move on, we will not stand in their way.

"Surely, we don't want to offload," he added, "and we have already turned down approaches by other clubs for our players."