Central Coast young gun Mustafa Amini has secured a move to German giants Borussia Dortmund but will remain with the Mariners on loan for the coming A-League season.
In an outcome described by the Mariners as “win-win for all parties”, the 18-year-old midfielder was on Monday transferred to the reigning German champions and instantly loaned back to the Gosford club.
It brought an end to lengthy negotiations, after the Mariners reportedly rejected a transfer offer of $135,000 earlier this year after Amini trained with the club in Germany.
The new transfer fee was not disclosed but is believed to be well in excess of the initial offer.
Amini said he was excited about joining the German club and welcomed the chance to spend another season under Graham Arnold at the Mariners.
“I’m really excited to be joining Dortmund, they’re a big club with amazing supporters,” Amini said.
“… But first of all I want to have another great season with the Mariners, as well as a good Under 20s World Cup in Colombia.”
Mariners chairman Peter Turnbull thanked Dortmund after nutting out a “much-improved” deal.
“We now have a deal that satisfies everyone, Musti’s international future, the club’s needs and more importantly, the fans,” he said.
“They will now be able to see Musti play out the balance of his original contract plus the Asian Champions League group stage.”
Amini will link up with fellow Australian young-gun Mitchell Langerak at Dortmund after the goalkeeper moved from Melbourne Victory last year.
whiskeymac
Guest
very good point and its where I wld like the HAL to be - a decent, viable promoter/ groomer of talent and a decent stepping stone to the big 5 leagues. The more who can stay and devlop here and not get lost in the lower division euro wildernesses the better in this respect (altho i wld never deny someone the opportunity to play abroad and earn more)
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
It's also a nice indicator from a big European Club that the A-League is a worthy incubator for young talent. It seems the quality of the game here has improved greatly since Pim's frank (and to be fair, honest) assessment. Now some clubs at least believe it is better playing in the A-League than training in Europe.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Well done to the CCM for standing firm (as did MVFC 12 months ago, when Dortmund came courting Mitch Langerak) and not accepting below-value initial offers. So, we now have half a dozen players, who have only ever played in the HAL, being noticed and signed by Bundesliga 1 or Bundesliga 2 clubs ... I guess, the HAL IS being watched by people, who know, love and understand football - both domestically and globally.
jamesb
Guest
this is the right move. Benefits Amini, benefits the mariners
whiskeymac
Guest
nice one.