Ximines jets off to Belgian Pro League
Published:Saturday | December 31, 2022 | 12:40 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
Tarick Ximines is on the verge of completing a move from Jamaica Premier League (JPL) outfit Harbour View to Belgian Pro League team Cercle Brugge K.S.V. Ximines, who left the island on Thursday night, is set to undergo a medical at the club on Monday.
Former Reggae Boy and agent of the talented right-back, Britain-based Fitzroy Simpson believes the move is in the best interest of Ximines who has already made an impression on his expected employees.
“It’s a great development pathway for him in the Belgian Pro League at a club who regard him as a super talent. It’s also a great environment for him and he’ll embrace the challenge,” said Simpson.
Ximines was an important member of the Davion Ferguson-coached Jamaica College team which won two titles during the recently concluded schoolboy football season. He also featured for two JPL teams, Harbour View where he played in 16 games scoring once and at Mount Pleasant where he played five times and scored one goal. Simpson believes that the strongest part of Ximines’s game is his willingness to learn.
“He’s a man that absorbs and takes on information very, very quickly and that’s a challenge that he has embraced and he doesn’t take long to adapt at all,” added Simpson.
Ximines has already secured three international caps for the Reggae Boyz, one of which came as a 17-year-old against Canada in a Concacaf World Cup qualifier at the BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, earlier this year. According to Simpson, choices were in abundance from both local and international teams to secure the services of the defender.
“We had a lot of premier league interest (JPL) and a lot of French Ligue 1 as well. There were also some teams in England that were interested in Tarick along with teams from Holland,” he said.
There will be a lot of challenges if the move is completed. Ximines will be moving to a new country as a teenager and he will have to adapt to a new playing style. However, Simpson is cautiously optimistic that the young defender will settle in perfectly with the new environment.
“ Yes, he’s a determined young man and this will benefit Jamaica and the national team,” Simpson said. “We want to get the youngsters out at 17 and get them into major leagues and to the rest of the region,” he added.