Striker Yau final piece of Sydney FC puzzle

Sydney FC coach Ian Crook has declared himself happy with his off-season recruiting drive after finding the final piece of his A-League team’s attacking puzzle.

The addition of Panamanian international striker Yairo Yau on Wednesday, following the recent acquisition of Croatian forward Krunoslav Lovrek, ended the A-League club’s global search for some forward firepower.

The versatility of Yau, who has played four times for his country and was signed on loan from Panamanian club Sporting San Miguelito, was especially appealing to Crook.

“He’s direct and really positive in possession and got a bit of pace as well, which we were looking for, and secondly he can cover anywhere across the front,” Crook said.

Lovrek and Yau join defenders Adam Griffiths and Fabio and attacking midfielder Ali Abbas as some of Sydney’s most significant recruits.

“I’m quite happy (with the recruiting) at the moment, but games are not won and lost on paper,” Crook said.

“It’s how they gel together as a group.

“Obviously there’s difficulties when you are signing overseas players in terms of how they settle in and how they react to a different style of football.”

The signing of Yau leaves little money for further purchases.

“It’s not to say we’re not looking at anybody. If something came up that was within the little bit of the budget that we’ve got left and fitted into what we wanted, then great,” Crook said.

“But we’re pretty comfortable with where we are at the moment.”

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