Stevia Mikuni (Albirex)
Born to a Nigerian father and a Japanese mother who was a former speed skater, Mikuni, who is the eldest of six children, has shown strength and poise for Singapore Premier League champions Albirex Niigata since signing from J3 League’s FC Gifu.
Despite a 2-0 loss to Lion City Sailors in the Community Shield, the former Japan youth international had a commanding display and was named Man of the Match.
As the White Swans convert from a Japanese team to a local side, they will look to the 1.82m Mikuni to provide the defensive stability for their title defence.
Julio Cruz (DPMM)
Brunei DPMM have not been shy to import players from a diverse range of countries such as Lithuania (Arturas Rimkevicius), Ukraine (Volodymyr Pryyomov), Belarus (Andrey Varankow), Afghanistan (Farshad Noor), North Macedonia (Kristijan Naumovski) and Uzbekistan (Akmal Tursunbaev).
This year, they have brought in Julio Cruz, who is possibly the first Mexican to feature in the SPL.
The 28-year-old comes with some pedigree, having been topscorer for Oaxaca in the Mexican second division Liga de Expansion MX in 2021. Interestingly, while he is not the tallest of forwards at 1.78m, four of his 10 goals scored in that season came from headers.
Petar Banovic (Hougang)
Trust Hougang United coach Marko Kraljevic to dig into his Balkan treasure trove and deliver attacking gems.
Goran Ljubojevic, Miroslav Kristic and Sime Zuzul were all reliable goalscorers when Kraljevic was at Balestier Khalsa.
If 1.88m forward Petar Banovic can follow suit alongside Croat Stjepan Plazonja, then Hougang may well spring a surprise or two this season.
Comfortable with the ball with both feet and his head, the 26-year-old Bosnian has plied his trade mainly in the lower leagues in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has had a fruitful spell with Bosnian second-tier side HNK Tomislav with 22 goals in 62 games over the last three seasons.
Bart Ramselaar (Lion City Sailors)
Doh! The Bart Simpson doppelganger is the biggest foreign signing this season, having played for the Netherlands and winning the Dutch Eredivisie with PSV as recently as 2018.
Still just 27, and with 10 seasons in the Dutch top tier yielding 31 goals and 18 assists from 192 games, Bart Ramselaar will be eager to prove he has plenty to offer after recovering from a knee injury in 2022.
He played an active role in the 2-0 Community Shield win over defending champions Albirex Niigata and Lion City Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic has already hailed him as “a fantastic addition to the team with his speed and intelligent link-up play in the final third”.
Itsuki Enomoto (Young Lions)
The 1.86m Itsuki Enomoto is industrious and useful at both ends of the field with his aerial ability.
He has quickly assimilated into the Young Lions set-up to score five goals – including a hat-trick against Geylang International – in the pre-season tournament in which they went unbeaten in their last four matches.
The 23-year-old forward was unfortunate to endure two relegations with Matsumoto Yamaga from the top tier to third, but proved his ability with nine goals in 74 games for the club before he came to Singapore.
If necessary, he can also take some dangerous long throws to augment the attack, as he lines up alongside three other Japanese players in the hope of lifting the developmental side off the bottom of the table for the first time since 2020.
