LAHORE - Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) signed deal with Asian star Safi Ullah Khan for their marathon campaign in KASB Pakistan Premier Football League. The 182-match event is slated to commence from 25 July 2009. Safi rose to limelight when he finished as leading marksmen of third AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers alongwith Sri Lankan's spearhead Kasun Jayasuriya (Ratnam Sports FC). PEL's Director Operation Murad Saigol believes the man from NWFP will be a huge different at the club because "he is a team player". He was delighted to finally capture the elegant striker and admitted: "This is a key signing. Safi is one of the best and most exciting strikers in South Asian region." "Joining PEL is great thing for me. The most important thing is to help the team win more trophies and entertain the fans. I look forward to playing my part in helping this newly-formed outfit to earn more respectability in the years to come," said Safi who never play Premiership before and captained HEC in 49th National Championship 2003 at Bannu." The modification of National Championship to Premier League improved Pakistan's soccer a lot and all credit goes to Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)'s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat for sending Pakistan football on strong footing and solid podium. The tough encounters of Premiership also powered WAPDA to snatch semi-final spot in AFC President's Cup," said Safi who has reiterated his desire to stick with PEL, despite apparent interest from other top organizations/clubs of Pakistan. "His style and ability will give the team a different dimension and I'm sure he will be a popular player with the fans."We missed a real target men when he made debut in Premiership 2008 and I hope Safi will fill the void. We were on the verge of elimination but somehow managed to earn last-gasp precious point. I hope that Safi will be the best link in our front runners and we will try to finish in better ranking as compared to 2008's Relegation Zone 11th position with 31 points, winning eight of the 26 matches with goal counts of 25-40," said PEL's coach Asghar Khan Anjum. "We are very happy and I think also Pakistani football should be happy to have such a electrifying player playing in the Premiership." Born at NWFP's town Munda in Lower Dir, Safi made international debut during Indo-Pak Series 2005 and became only player in Pakistan soccer history to score four goals in an international fixture. He recently joined the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) AID-27 Financial Assistance Scheme following fine display in AFC C- Certificate Coaching Course at Iran and AFC Project Future Coaches program at Malaysia. Safi admitted he could have doubled the amount by agreeing to a switch to other Pakistan Powerhouses." The blue shirt is a really big thing for me. The people who know me know I play to enjoy and entertain. I've handled pressure and expectation all my life. I don't play for the money. If I'd wanted to play for the money I'd have accepted deal with other Premiership teams. I have very big respect for the offer of PEL. I hope my best years are still ahead. I'm 30 and now it's my and PEL time. Anjum concluded: "He's very intelligent, tactically very strong and he scores a lot of goals. The missing of a reliable striker in PPFL 2008 was our weakest link as our midfielder Muhammad Rashid (6 goals) went on to finish as PEL's top scorer, followed by Asmat Ullah 5, Muzaffar Ali 3, Ameer Hamza 3, Rizwan Asif 2 while single goal-scorers were Muneer Ahmed, Din Badshah, Muhammad Owais, Najam Ul Sehar, Saghir Ahmed, and an own goal (KESC's Muhammad Moosa).