Falkirk content to say goodbye and good luck to Biabi
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These are interesting times at Falkirk, not only did they memorably reach the Scottish Cup final last season and finish a very respectable fifth in the Championship, the club has become a breeding ground for talented youngsters.
Botti Biabi’s transfer to Swansea marks the third time in the last 18 months that the English Premier League side have snapped up one of The Bairns’ up-and-coming players.
Biabi joins former Falkirk team-mates Jay Fulton and Stephen Kingsley in south Wales, while Conor McGrandles is now at Norwich City.
Scott Arfield can be added to that list too. Having left Falkirk Stadium for Huddersfield aged 21 in 2010, he played all but one of Burnley’s Premier League games last season.
Swansea have reportedly paid a six-figure salary for Biabi, with a range of add-ons included, and while that may have some questioning Falkirk’s ambition, the reality of football played it’s part for Bairns boss Peter Houston.
“We are in a good state financially. We are one of the few clubs in Scotland probably that has money in the bank.
Swansea won’t see it as a risk, but for us to knock back six-figure fees is very difficult,” Houston told BBC Scotland.
Houston holds no animosity to the players who go or the clubs who take them, a refreshing attitude to which Biabi is the latest beneficiary.
“I’m delighted. We’ve said all along that if some team wants the young players at Falkirk, especially if they’re from the English Premier League, we’ll never stand in their way,” Houston explained to the Daily Record.
“Who are we to deny a young guy, who could go on to be anything or nothing, depending on how he goes about it?”
Biabi’s move is just the latest example that coming through the ranks at Falkirk can prove a launch pad to bigger things, something which can only be inspiring to the next wave of youngsters at FK2.
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