Indonesian hopes of having another young talent plying his trade in Europe may be realized this year.

Star soccer player Egy Maulana Vikri’s agent, Dusan Bogdanovic, said several European clubs, in France and Spain, had shown interest in signing the 17-year-old player. Bogdanovic added that an official announcement on the name of the club would be released within a month or two.

He was confident that Egy would land on his feet in one of the European soccer leagues, but declined to disclose any more information because the deal was still at an early stage.

“Egy is one of the biggest talents not only in Southeast Asia, but also in the world,” Bogdanovic told a press conference at the Youth and Sports Ministry office in Jakarta on Friday.

“I have signed a contract [not to disclose which clubs are interested in hiring Egy]. I can only say that it is a 90 percent certainty that Egy will play in one of the European leagues,” he added.

Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, who also attended the presser, said the government would fully support Egy’s dream to play in Europe as long as he availed himself to the national team when needed.

“It is [Egy’s] rights to play in any country. However, whenever the national team needs him, including for the 2018 Asian Games, Egy has to be willing to come home,” said Imam, as quoted by Antara.

He said the country would be proud to have more Indonesians, including Egy and another fresh talent, Witan Sulaeman, playing in Europe.

Egy, who also plays for the under-19 national soccer team, said he would brush up on his English while waiting for the contract to be finalized.

He also had trials with French soccer club AS Saint-Etienne for two weeks in December.

Egy, who was awarded Top Scorer and Most Valuable Player in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U19 Youth Championship last year, said he had also tried several clubs in Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal and Italy throughout 2017.

Bogdanovic said because Egy is a devout Muslim, France would be ideal for him to practice his faith.

“Religion is important to him and there are many Muslims and mosques in France,” he added.

Soccer observer Yusuf Kurniawan said Egy would be better off joining a Dutch club due to the historical links between the two countries.

“Egy has the quality to play in Europe. However, in order to crack the European market, he will have to prove himself constantly,” Yusuf told The Jakarta Post.

To play professionally in Europe, nevertheless, a player must be 18, he added. Egy will turn 18 on July 7.

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