Sailors Nab J1 Hotshot

Brazilian Lopes topped scoring charts twice with Marinos in Japan

- Deepanraj Ganesan

The Lion City Sailors' unprecedented run to the AFC Champions League Two final in the 2024-25 campaign made clubs in the continent sit up and take notice.

And ahead of the new season, Singapore's only privatised football club are not resting on their laurels.

The Singapore Premier League and Singapore Cup champions confirmed on July 17 that they have signed Brazilian forward Anderson Lopes from five-time J1 League champions Yokohama F. Marinos on a three-year contract.

While the Sailors did not disclose the transfer fee, The Straits Times understands that it is lower than the club's record fee of €1.8 million (then S$2.9 million) that it paid to sign Brazilian midfielder Diego Lopes from Portuguese Primeira Liga side Rio Ave in 2021, and the reported €1.5 million fee to Dutch Eredivisie side Utrecht for midfielder Bart Ramselaar in 2024.

The signing of Lopes, 31, is a coup for the Sailors and Singapore football. Lopes had rejected interest from Brazilian giants Botafogo and clubs from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, ST understands.

Lopes, who primarily plays as a centre forward but can also operate as a second striker or as a winger, told ST that the ambitious project outlined by the Sailors' management, along with Singapore being an ideal place for him and his family, played a key role in his decision.