“I’m very grateful to Eastern, and to Chino [head coach Roberto Losada] and his staff for believing in me, and I gave everything I could for the club,” said Baffoe, who was planning to get his teammates to sign the match ball before storing it next to his television at home.
Frankie Yau Wing-keung, the Eastern vice-chairman, said his club were trying to negotiate a transfer fee for “superstar” Baffoe.
“We have to respect that a player wants to capitalise on his value when he’s at his peak,” Yau added.
Losada overcame the midseason departures of four leading players to deliver a Senior Shield title, and the club’s second straight FA Cup.
He said he expected more key figures to follow Baffoe through the exit door this summer.
“It’s very frustrating, because I can’t do anything – finances are not my job,” Losada said.
“We start every season from zero, do good things, then have to start from zero again – it’s very tough.”
Losada reiterated that he would leave “if I get a good offer … but nothing has come, so, maybe I’m not that good”.
The 48-year-old said he had no choice but to “find the energy from somewhere” to rebuild Eastern for next season. “I will go on holiday and recharge my batteries, because I’m really tired,” Losada added.
He was anticipating his downtime being compromised by planning for next season, but did not expect to be allowed the bigger squad Eastern would require after this victory secured AFC Champions League Two football.
Yau said the club would have a budget of about HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) for next season. They banked HK$350,000 for winning the cup.
https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3312586/eastern-win-hong-kong-fa-cup-after-brilliant-noah-baffoe-hat-trick-downs-rangers