SINGAPORE, April 5 — After spending his entire fledgling career training and playing as a striker, Irfan Fandi — the eldest son of Singapore’s legendary forward Fandi Ahmad — has now decided he is more comfortable preventing goals rather than scoring them.

The 18-year-old Home United player, whose goalscoring exploits saw him named by UK newspaper The Guardian as one of 40 best young talents in the world in 2014, told TODAY he sees his future as a centre-back.

He discussed it at length with his father, and Fandi agreed that his best position is as a defender.

“I feel really comfortable playing at the back and I think it’s my strongest position,” said Irfan, who stands at a strapping 1.88m. “I played as a centre-back for the Singapore Under-21 team against Iran (lost 1-0) last week and I adapted well in what was a tough match.

“But, at the end of the day, it’s up to my coaches to decide where I play and how I can best contribute to the team.”

Local football icon Fandi told TODAY he has no qualms about his eldest son wanting to play as a defender, despite sending him to Europe and South America for several years to train and play as a forward.

In recent years, Irfan had trials with European giants Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan and Valencia CF. He also had training stints with Spanish club Hercules CF (2013), and Chilean sides AC Barnechea (2014) and Universidad de Catolica (2014-15).

Singaporeans first saw his potential as a striker when he turned out for the National Football Academy (NFA) Under-16 team in the 2013 Lion City Cup here, when he scored against youth teams from Arsenal and Eintracht Frankfurt.

At last year’s SEA Games, donning his father’s famed No 17 shirt, he scored against Cambodia in the group stages. Singapore did not qualify for the knockout round.

Despite his obvious goal-poaching talent, Irfan’s father thinks the teenager would be better off playing in defence. “Frankly, I have told him his best position is in defence,” said Fandi, 54, who is the national team assistant coach. “I believe he can do well as a centre-back because he has the physique and he has shown recently he can adapt well in that position.

“It’s good that he can play in multiple positions and there is a chance he can become a utility player like, for example, Safuwan Baharudin, who can play in attack, midfield and defence.

“At the end of the day, it’s how you play and not where you play.”

Interestingly, Fandi played as a goalkeeper when he was a kid before making his name as a prolific striker feared across South-east Asia. His father, the late Ahmad Wartan, was a winger before taking his place between the posts for the Singapore national team.

Former national defender S Subramani, who was Irfan’s assistant coach at last year’s SEA Games, told TODAY the youngster has the makings of a good defender.

“As a striker, he lacks composure at times,” said the 43-year-old, who was one of the best defenders in the region in his prime. “As a centre-back, though, he understands the basics of defending really well.

“Apart from his impressive physique, Irfan has good reading of the game and has the ability to play the ball out of defence. But he still has to work on his positioning.”

While Irfan has not featured as a centre-back for Home United this season, Protectors head coach Philippe Aw is toying with the idea of deploying the teenager there.

“Without a doubt, Irfan has the qualities to play at centre-back because he is tough and tall,” said Aw. “He is still very young but I think there is a real chance (of him playing in defence) in the long run.”

For now, the only defending Irfan has to do is for his country.

The teenager will be enlisting for National Service (NS) on Monday, meaning he will miss close to three months of action due to Basic Millitary Training (BMT). “As a Singaporean, serving the country is my duty,” said Irfan. “Through NS, I want to develop qualities like leadership, and also improve on the mental and physical aspects of my game.” ― TODAY