KUALA LUMPUR: On the eve of their FA Cup final against KL City tomorrow, Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) announced the signing of Brazilian Heberty Fernandes.
Heberty, 34, is known as a prolific scorer who has made his mark in Thailand.
JDT owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said Heberty is brought in to replace fellow Brazilian Diogo Luis Santo who will be out for several months due to injury.
Heberty has top scored in the Thai league with 159 goals from 249 matches. He had played for several clubs there, including Bangkok United and Muathong United.
In a video posted today by the Southern Tigers on social media, Heberty was seen riding in a limousine around the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
JDT tried to sign Heberty in 2018, but at that time, the Brazilian was still playing for Muanthong United.
Tunku Ismail said JDT may sign more foreign players to have more competition within the squad.
But he added that getting former Manchester United star Radamel Falcao was beyond their financial means.
"I always have international players like Gerard Pique and Lukas Podolski coming to meet me in relation to the future. We did discuss bringing in Falcao but we couldn't afford it.
"With the price that he wanted, so it was pretty straight forward, it was too expensive. We want to use the budget to sign two to three more players to improve the team."
The Crown Prince of Johor denied claims that there is no worthy opponents in the Super League to match JDT.
"They (opponents) are all strong but on match day, we played better. But it's not without a fight. There's always a fight in every match," said Tunku Ismail.
"I think it's because we have good preparations, we have strategic game play, and it's the key to success."