GRENADIAN national Anthony Modeste will be returning to four-time Premier League champions Portmore United as a player/coach next week instead of joining Arnett Gardens.

Highly-placed Observer sources indicate that the experienced defender, who had been released by Portmore last November to join Arnett Gardens in the January player transfer window, has reconsidered the move.

The twist sees the player, who is currently in Grenada on holidays, returning to Jamaica next week.

According to our sources, Modeste will assist with the preparation of Portmore’s senior team, which is currently struggling in an unfamiliar ninth position in the 12-team premiership with 22 points — 17 behind leaders Harbour View.

On November 22, the Observer reported Portmore’s general manager Trevin Nairne as saying that the club was in a rebuilding phase, hence the reason for the departure of Modeste and another senior player Newton Sterling.

“Anthony, especially, has been an extremely important part of the Portmore programme over the years. However, Portmore are currently in a rebuilding phase, so we’ve spoken to Anthony about it and decided that he can for the 2009/10 season play elsewhere if he so chooses,” Nairne said at the time.

The 34-year-old defender/midfielder, one of Grenada’s most popular players, was a member of his country’s coaching staff at the 2008 Digicel Caribbean Cup where they played Jamaica in the final.

Modeste, who first joined Portmore United in 2002, helped the team win three of their four titles in Jamaica’s top competition — 2003, 2005 and 2008.

The Grenadian also played a major role when Portmore won the CFU Caribbean Club Championships in 2005 as well as the JFF Champion Cup in 2003, 2005 and 2007.