PJ CITY FC owner Datuk Seri Vijay Eswaran has admitted that it saddens him to see local players warming the bench in the M-League while foreigners hog the limelight.
And he is determined to see that this stark situation does not happen in his team.
Vijay said the PJ City team aim to go fully local to help develop Malaysian football talent.
During a press conference by the club's title sponsor, QNET in Petaling Jaya yesterday, Vijay said he has never felt that teams must have foreigners to produce great results.
"Malaysia produced world-class footballers back in the 1970s... we didn't have their help (foreign players) then.
"And foreign players were stopped from playing in Malaysia in 2009.
"Yet we won the Sea Games and even 2010 AFF Cup without the help of foreigners.
"Some of Malaysia's best football was produced when foreigners weren't around.
"We are working on this... use our local players. We have to take risks but if we don't give them exposure, who will?
"Let's believe in home grown players, anak Malaysia.
"Let's have confidence in local players."
According to Vijay, if his team end up lower in the Super League table because of using local players, he is prepared to accept the consequences.
Vijay said he has faith in PJ City's new coach, P. Maniam, to do some magic.
Maniam, former coach of the national under-16 team, replaced K. Devan who has left for Negri Sembilan for the 2021 season.
Vijay believes Maniam will create the same "magic" as he did with the PJ City's youth team and raise the Phoenix to new heights.
"The thing that I admire about Maniam is that he has transformed our youth team without much support except for what we can do.
"The youth team's record is right there, and we hope he will bring that magic to the Super League."
Although PJ City management declined to reveal Maniam's KPI, PJ City FC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said: "We want to change the mindset to nothing is impossible.
"When pushed against a wall, we will do better. It's not easy but nothing's impossible. We want to prove everybody wrong."