KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) have announced they will play four European clubs in their preparations for the 2022 M-League.
The Super League champions will travel to Dubai where they will meet Slovakia's MSK Zilina (Jan 25), Latvia's Riga FC (Jan 29), Russia's Rodina Moscow and Spartak Moscow for warm-up matches.
"The team will begin with online training sessions from their respective homes or hotels first due to quarantine requirements before commencing training at the JDT training centre in Seri Gelam," JDT said in a statement.
"The first team squad, including several promising youngsters from JDT II, will then travel to Dubai for preseason friendlies."
Meanwhile, according to a UK media report, Fernando Forestieri is expected to join JDT this season following an early release from Udinese.
The former Sheffield Wednesday striker left the Serie A club after having played only 54 minutes for Udinese this season.
Johor fans were excited by the news of Forestieri, and JDT club owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim had tweeted: "I like Serie A".
"Had to do it. Bergson (da Silva) said he's lonely upfront," he said, hinting at Forestieri's signing.
The 31-year-old Forestieri scored 40 goals in 128 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday between 2015 and 2020. Born in Argentina, he played for Italy's national youth teams between 2006 and 2012.