“I’m looking to do my thing in Vietnam”, exclaimed CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh’s World Cup player speaking to ‘ttproleague.com’ moments before his departure for Vietnamese Club Hoang Anh Gia Lai on Wednesday evening at the Piarco Airport.
The Jabloteh and T&T midfielder would be accompanied by his Club’s Team Administrator Wesley Webb on his trip to the Asian continent.
No contract has been signed thus far between the player and the Vietnamese Club. The world cup player will visit Hoang Anh Gia Lai and see whether or not he fancies the conditions before signing.
An elated Whitley said, “It’s time for this move. It has always been in the making for me to be out of the country playing and I have finally decided to take this chance to do it,” he said.
Whitley a member of the historic Trinidad and Tobago 2006 World Cup team now believes he is setting another mark in history.
“I’ve had other offers outside of Trinidad, like in England and America but I want to go further than that. Local players have already been to England, America, Scotland, Germany and even Japan. I’ll be making a bit of history myself again, since after the World Cup as the first local player to play in Vietnam,” said the Jabloteh midfielder.
Although the 29 year old admits he doesn’t have much knowledge about the Vietnamese Club, but he strongly believes he will sign on the dotted line and join the Club.
“At the moment I don’t know much about the Club. During the first week in Vietnam I would see whether or not the conditions at the Club are suitable for me before I sign a contract. Apart from that, I would say it’s a done deal,” he explained.
Whitley who last represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 2006 World Cup is very displeased with the current situation in the national football, but is adamantly committed to his Club football career.
“I am disappointed, with the current situation on the national team, from having a splendid World Cup campaign and now guys are pulling out of the Gold Cup, we are going from a high to a low. I believe this is unfair to a lot of the players in the country. As for me, if they happen to call me up for national duty in the future I would make myself available but presently I am committed to my Club football,” ended the World Cup player.
Meantime, Jabloteh’s newly appointed Team Administrator Wesley Webb enlightened ‘ttproleague.com’ on Whitley’s offer by the Vietnamese Club saying, “Whitley’s contract was made possible through a company called Straton Marketing in London who we (Jabloteh) are associated with. They are the ones who dealt with Hoang Anh Gia Lai and reports from them are that Whitley would be well taken care of,” said Webb a former T&T player.