Murray United has lost another one of its young stars after Lionel Masudi was offered a transfer to join NPL heavyweights South Melbourne.
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Masudi had played in the junior and senior ranks with Murray since the club’s inception in 2015, but couldn’t knock back the opportunity to further his career at the biggest organisation outside of the A-League.
“It’s a great opportunity and it goes to show if you put your head down and work for it, you can go to bigger and better places,” Masudi said.
“I’ve always wanted to chase the dream, which I’m still doing and I’m hoping I’m on the right path towards it.
“It was quite a good level to play at Murray United and I got good experience, but I felt like it was the right time to move on to pursue my dream.
“I sat down with the head coach (James Coutts) and he told me he had plans for me for the rest of the season.
“What he told me and what I had in mind were similar, but when the transfer came I think it was the best for me to go to the league above.
“I trialled with a few clubs down there, but when South came calling and gave me a trial, I said this was the place I needed to be at.
“They’re a very big team and they’re looking more likely to go into the A-League in a few years time, so it’s a great club to be at to pursue my dream from here on.
“I left on good terms and I couldn’t be any happier.”
But it nearly wasn’t to be for the talented attacking player, who scraped in before the transfer deadline by just 10 minutes.
Masudi made his first appearance for South Melbourne’s under 20s against Heidelberg United on Sunday, coming off the bench to play 65 minutes.
“It was good to get a hit-out and get some quality minutes,” he said.
“It was a disappointing result because we lost to Heidelberg, but it was good to play with the boys and I very much enjoyed it.
“It’s a massive step up, it’s a lot more tactical and you’re playing against some of the best kids in Victoria.”
Masudi has been training extremely hard outside of his regular playing commitments with close friend Aung Syn and is hopeful he can get a start in the under 20s lineup against St Albans this Sunday.
“I’ll keep working hard, but nothing is guaranteed because everyone in the squad is a high-quality player and all can play in the same position and do quite well,” Masudi said.
“It really depends on who trains the hardest and works for it the most.”