The world famous Cadillac’s local agents Fapi Motors have become Valletta FC’s main sponsors after reaching an agreement with the club.

The citizens, now under the charge of former Marsaxlokk president Victor Sciriha, are boosting their squad with several new arrivals, both local and foreign.

Addressing the press yesterday, Sciriha said since he took over, a lot of work had been done in an effort to put the citizens back on track. “We are all aiming to strengthen the squad as much as possible to have a competitive team and therefore to become main challengers for the local football honours,” he said.

He said that Valletta had a glorious history and deserved to get back to the top of local football, a place they had occupied until a few years ago.

Announcing the new sponsorship, Sciriha said he was glad with the agreement reached with Fapi. He added: “Valletta’s name is now associated with such a world known brand of motors. Moreover, the word Cadillac will be all over the badges and other kit associated with Valletta.”

He said other sponsors will hopefully be announced later on.

At the end of his speech, he thanked the newcomers in the City fold and promised them all his help.

Ms Marika Zammit, speaking on behalf of Fapi Motors, said the company was glad to have become associated with Valletta FC, a very prestigious name in local football. “We sincerely hope that this agreement will be successful to both parties.”

At the end of the activity, David Gauci, financial controller of the company, presented the sponsorship cheque to Victor Sciriha.

Coach Paul Zammit said Valletta FC have only just started walking midway through their pre-season training.

Coming from two successive defeats in friendly matches, Zammit said he was rotating all the 22 players in his squad. “I want to see them all in action. After all, these friendlies are just the start of the second phase of our preparation. We have started walking, not running yet,” he said.

Asked whether he was worried that the opening clash against rivals Floriana is coming soon after his national team players will be back from a training camp, Zammit said he was certainly worried. “I am not complaining. We all know that the national squad’s training camp is held every year over this period, more or less. But it is a fact that I will not have all those players at my disposal for so many days before such an important clash. It is a game which can lift our confidence considerably if we win, but if we lose, then it will possibly take time before we settle down. Expectations are great this season, but the fact that we have all these new faces does not mean that we will be successful immediately. It takes time for a team to settle down and at Valletta, it will be no exception.

“However, I firmly believe that Valletta will be a title challenger this season. We have remained with the same number of players in the squad, but we have made a leap in quality not in quantity. At present, I can say that there is a very positive attitude in our squad,” he said.

Zammit finally said that they are still active in the transfer market. “A Mexican player is on trial with us till the end of the week, following which we will take a decision on whether to keep him in our squad. In any case, the deadline is 31 August and we will keep our eyes open about other options,” he said.