JOHOR BARU — Singapore internationals Baihakki Khaizan, Hariss Harun and Shahril Ishak are set to see their monthly pay cheques jump two-fold from what they earned with Malaysian Super League (MSL) champions LionsXII with their switch to Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) teams next season.

Baihakki and Hariss will be playing in the MSL with JDT I, the former JDT, while Shahril will be playing in the Malaysian Premier League with JDT II, formerly Johor FA. They will earn between US$20,000 (S$25,000) to US$30,000 a month, easily double what they earned with LionsXII.

And speaking at a press conference to announce the signing of former Argentina international Luciano Figueroa for a reported US$1.5 million a season, Johor FA President, the Crown Prince of Johor Tunku Ismail Idris, said he has no regrets nor qualms about the money invested on the three Singaporeans.

“Whatever we pay them is worth it. Don’t forget a professional footballer has a short life span. They deserve every cent of their salaries. Think of the sacrifices they have to make,” said Tunku Ismail.

“Things have changed, life has changed and we cannot expect things to stay static forever.

“What I am doing is to change the lives of a professional footballer playing in the M-League.

“We have to move forward and it’s not a bad thing (to pay attractive salaries. We cannot be stuck with the mentality that we should pay our footballers a miserable salary. What’s the point?

“Let’s say we only want to pay a couple of thousand ringgit a month. Might as well we go back to the era of playing football in a paddy field.

He added: “And I don’t think we are paying our footballers way above the market value. We made them (Hariss, Baihakki and Shahril) an offer. They are interested, they want to play for us and we agreed on a salary. Everybody is happy. Believe me there will be some clubs who will do the same, if not pay more, in the future.”

And the big-spending MSL side’s latest investment is Figueroa, who was signed from Greek side Panathinaikos following spells in the Italian Serie A with Genoa and Villarreal in the Spanish Primera Division.

Together with Baihakki and Harris, the 32-year-old will join up with compatriot Pablo Aimar as the club’s four foreign signings for the new MSL season, which starts on Jan 17.

On the depleted LionsXII’s chances of retaining their league crown next season, Tunku Ismail replied: “Well, that’s not my problem. It’s for the LionsXII team management to handle.” DAN GUEN CHIN