.LINK() DOES NOT WORK WITH AUTOCOMPLETE

I've a textbox bound to a member via .link(). When I select a proposed item from the dropdown, the value is not delegated to the object.

// link persons
		for(var i =0;i<data.members.length;i++)
		{
			var member = data.members[i];
			
			var firstnameEdit = $("#firstname"+member.id);
			var lastnameEdit = $("#lastname"+member.id);
			var birthyearEdit = $("#birthyear"+member.id);						
			
// use firstnameEdit.link cause jQuery.link does not work
			firstnameEdit.link(member, {
				firstname:  "firstname"+member.id,
				lastname:  "lastname"+member.id,
				birthyear:  "birthyear"+member.id,
				});
				
			// autocomplete für die personen
			firstnameEdit.autocomplete({
				source: "/de/Index/Events/autocompletefirstname",
				minLength: 2,				
			});	
			
			lastnameEdit.autocomplete({
				source: "/de/Index/Events/autocompletelastname",
				minLength: 2,				
			});		
		}