PETALING JAYA: Shahrel Fikri Md Fauzi was supposed to don the colours of Police, with a signature imminent, but after they pulled out, he decided to move north.
The 31-year-old has penned a deal with Penang, who are looking to improve their eighth-place finish from last season, and believe the player fondly known as Eky to help them do that.
And to provide ammunition for Shahrel, the club have signed the likes of Haqimi Azim Rosli, on-loan from Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), Aliff Haiqal Lau, on-loan from Selangor and Khalaif Naskam from Terengganu.
And they have also kept Filipino winger OJ Porteria.
For Shahrel, he just wants to start his new chapter and make it meaningful for the fans in Penang.
“I’m delighted to open a new chapter with Penang. I hope this season will be a meaningful season for everyone part of the establishment,” he said.
Shahrel has played 20 times for Malaysia, scoring five goals.
The Tawau-born striker made his professional debut in 2016 for PKNP and impressed as a versatile attacker, capable of playing as a winger and striker.
From 2016 to 2019, Shahrel made 53 appearances and scored 29 goals for PKNP.
During that period, he also had a loan spell with Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima in 2018, where he made 12 appearances and scored twice.
Shahrel’s best season with PKNP was in the 2017 Premier League, where he scored 20 goals in 32 matches.
His best season in the Super League was in the 2019 season when he scored 10 goals in 11 matches for Perak, which earned him a big move to Selangor in 2021.
Shahrel didn’t have the best of seasons with the Red Giants and eventually moved to Negri Sembilan in 2023 and then to Police in 2024.
Last season, he donned the colours of Melaka, but his services were not renewed, which saw him rejoining Police, with photos of him training with them surfacing on social media.
