Maxime Lestienne hopes to sign off with a century of assists for Lion City Sailors

Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox

Maxime Lestienne is hoping for a memorable end to his four-year stint with the Lion City Sailors when they face Balestier Khalsa on Dec 20.

PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS

Jeremiah Ong

SINGAPORE – Since arriving in Singapore in 2022, Lion City Sailors’ mercurial winger Maxime Lestienne has enthralled local football fans with his sublime skills and ability to conjure something out of nothing.

As the 33-year-old winds down his stint here, he has offered a final reminder of the output and trademark creativity that will soon be sorely missed in the Sailors’ ranks.

In his penultimate game for the Singapore Premier League club on Dec 17, the Belgian registered a goal and an assist as the Sailors beat Myanmar’s Shan United 3-2 in the Asean Club Championship.

This came just three days after he notched a hat-trick of assists in a 4-1 first-leg rout of Balestier Khalsa in the Singapore Cup semi-finals.

Ahead of his final match for the Sailors – the semi-final, second leg at Jalan Besar Stadium on Dec 20 – he is eyeing another statistic to end his Singapore stint on a perfect note.

“I am up to 97 assists. I still have one more game to reach 100. It will be difficult, but I will try my best to do it,” he told The Straits Times.

Lestienne’s contract expires at the end of December and, while