Jaguar Zerka plays down marquee status
New Tanjong Pagar United forward Monsef Zerka has played down his marquee-signing status and insists he is just "here to play" like the rest of his team-mates.
By Gabriel Tan
Zerka, who spent ten years playing in his native France with Nancy and Nantes, was unveiled on Wednesday as the Jaguars' marquee player for the 2013 Great Eastern-YEO's S.League season.
The 31-year-old, who has won 12 caps for Morocco, is the third big-name signing that has been unveiled so far in 2013, following in the footsteps of SAFFC's Kazuyuki Toda and Tampines Rovers' Martin Wagner.
And while one of the main reasons behind the S.League introducing the "marquee player" rule this season is to draw in the crowds, Zerka insists that is not just a job for him, but the rest of his new team-mates as well.
"I'm the same as my team-mates because I'm here to play," he said. "I want to enjoy playing for my new team.
"I'm here to bring something to the team to help Tanjong Pagar and the league progress in the future. This is now my team.
"I want to do my best and hopefully we can do better than last year. I want to help the young guys in my team and share my experience with them."
Unlike Toda and Wagner, who both admitted they knew little about Singaporean football, Zerka revealed he was familiar with the S.League and was determined to raise its profile outside Asia.
"I previously knew about the S.League because there have been a few French players playing in it in the past," he added. "I know of many players who come to play in the S.League.
"For me, I'm always searching for a new country to discover and I know here there's potential to be a good championship in Asia.
"It's a good experience for me to come here and bring my experience to the players and to help my team.
"The Singapore league is a good championship and we know about it in France, but I'm not sure if other parts of the world know about it."
Following his decade playing in France's top-two divisions, Zerka had stints in Greece and Romania and was also briefly on the books of Major League Soccer side New England Revolution.