Theeratep Winothai is the new acquisition of K.Lierse S.K. He is generally considered as one of the biggest Asian talents. As you would suspect from his name, he originates from Thailand. He’s one of the biggest football stars in his country. He is a regular in the Thai national team and scores consistently.

Winothai was born on in Bangkok on 16th February 1985, and is 23 years old. When he was only fourteen he appeared for the U-17 national team during the World Championships in New Zealand. He went to England, where he played for the youth teams of Crystal Palace and Everton. He returned to Thailand four years ago, to sign for First Division side Tero Sasano. In 2003 the club were second in the Asian Champions League. Last season they finished third in the Thai Premier League. Winothai will always be famous for scoring a hat trick in the final of the South East Asian Games against Vietnam. As a result Thailand were Gold medal winners for the seventh successive time.

Hat tricks are seemingly his speciality, as he’s scored them already this year against China & Nepal. Up to now Winothai has scored fifteen goals for the Thai national team. That’s not gone unnoticed in the football world, because also Manchester City, owned by Thai businessman Thaksin Shinawatra, wanted Winothai in their ranks. But it’s Lierse who have him. Due to the Thai League still being in progress, Winothai cannot be at Lierse for the start of the 2008-09 season. He will come to Belgium in October, and be fully operational for January 2009.

On Lierse TV you can watch a ciompilation of Winothai: Long version - Short Version

On the first training day, the 9th of July, 2 players will come on a trial: de 21-year old Nigerian striker Eze Otorogu (Enyimba International FC), and a 24-yeard old Egytain right midfielder, Barakat Mahmoud Youssef Allam (Wadi Degla)