Austrian captain Marc Janko has been named as Sydney FC’s international marquee signing and Alessandro del Piero’s replacement for this A-League season.
Janko’s A-League deal is for the 2014/15 A-League season, and will wear the 21 shirt, as it is his lucky number.
The 31-year-old striker has played for Red Bull Salzburg, FC Twente, FC Porto and most recently Turkish club Trabzonspor. He is also the captain of his national side.
He has 40 caps for Austria, producing an impressive return of 17 goals for his country, and the 1.96m (6ft 5in) Janko has been a consistent scorer throughout his career, particularly with Red Bull Salzburg, Twente and Porto.
Janko bolsters new coach Graham Arnold’s already impressive strike force which includes Shane Smeltz, Bernie Ibini and Australian marquee Alex Brosque.
Janko said he was pleased with the move, and played up Sydney FC’s chances in the coming season.
“I am thrilled to be joining Sydney FC and can’t wait to get started,” said the Austrian skipper.
“I have come here to win trophies and play in the Asian Champions League and I am confident that I will achieve this with Sydney FC.
“I have spoken with Scott Barlow and Graham Arnold and I am excited about the future direction of this club. I believe I can contribute a big part to this success.
“I have also heard a lot about the passion of the Members and supporters for the club and I look forward to playing in front of them.”
Graham Arnold, Sydney FC’s coach, believes Janko will be a big threat up front for the Sky Blues.
“Marc has an exceptional goal-scoring record and is a fantastic addition to our attacking options, he will complement our current strikers well.
“We have put in a lot of time and effort to ensure he has the right qualities and right character to fit into our squad, and I’m very happy we have been able to sign him.
“At 6 foot 5 he will cause a lot of problems for opposition defenders and he will give us a different threat up front.”
Chairman Scott Barlow also expressed his happiness at Janko’s arrival at the club.
“We are very pleased to welcome Marc Janko to Sydney FC as our international marquee for the 2014/15 season,” said Mr. Barlow.
“Marc is a striker of international pedigree having played for some of Europe’s biggest and most well-known clubs where his goal scoring record speaks for itself”.
“He has won league championships in Portugal and Austria, as well as the Dutch Cup and Dutch Super Cup”
“As the current captain of the Austrian national team Marc is a proven leader and he brings with him these qualities to our club.”
With AAP
nordster
Guest
Sweet, hope to make the trip some day :) Maybe even rally sweden, the camp fires look awesome...
Arto
Guest
@ Realfootball: Agree 110%!!!! :-)
Arto
Guest
@ nordster: Nah, I'm in neighbouring Norway and used up all my holiday allowance earlier this year by amongstother things coming back down to Syd for 2 weeks! :-) I saw it there live last year though - it was insane! ;-)
nordster
Guest
So u watching some Rally Finland this weekend Arto. Dont tell me you're actually there, live :)
Realfootball
Guest
Agree. The Sydney side around ADP was abysmal and poorly coached. Farina's recruiting in his last season was enough to get him sacked alone. I'm very excited about the developments at Sydney under Arnold. What a contrast to Farina. Frank gave it his all, but I think this level is beyond him now. I am planning to come down for a Sydney derby.
Realfootball
Guest
Not sure that is the case. I was thinking of further north than North Sydney. I agree that NSO is too close to SFC territory. But we know CCM are talking to Manly Sea Eagles.
nordster
Guest
All the more reason to just Dive In!!! The reactions on here are amusing...they want u to stick to metrics and Telling Each Other What They Want To Hear :) Arnie sounds like a work in progress. I think he is adapting to super club coach pretty well. Stick in there...
Squizz
Guest
You might as well say that you want one less team. The people that would follow Nth Sydney already follow Sydney FC or WSW. There is close to zero interest for a team in Nth Sydney and the FFA would not accept NSO as a regular venue.
Arto
Guest
@ Realfootball: For my mind the distinction isn't so easy (or clear-cut) - things would have been a lot different had SFC had a better set of players around ADP. Don't get me wrong, I think Janko is a good signing and I really hope he does well for us this year (& hopefully the years beyond!). However, I'm also quite sure that if ADP had signed for either another of the better HAL teams or if SFC had a better squad, then we would have seen even more great football from him. It remains to be seen, but if Janko can impact on the way the HAL is played to the extent that ADP did (for example, ADP higlighted how HAL defenders were previously a little naive (at best, poor quality technically at worst) in the way they tried to mark out star players. Yes, lots of people complained that he milked fouls and was a bit of a lightweight in some situations, but at the very least he really did open both players & the fans eyes up to the necessity to avoid committing fouls or rushing in too soon as his control of the ball was at times sensational and defenders just need to be aware of the technical ability some players have is very, very high, which doesn't allow for rushiong in or over-committing. Maybe Janko will change the way defenders defend again the cross or how they view the way target man can play?? :-)
Arto
Guest
@ Realfootball: Actually Berisha is a very interesting case - he was a bit of nomad prior to coming to Roar and IMO a classic example of how players can excel in some places & be total flops in others. For instance he was absolutely hopeless here in Norway, but he hasn't looked back once he arrived at Roar! :-)
Arto
Guest
@ Squizz: Interesting team selction, and certainly one on paper that looks good! :-) So far in pre-season, Arnold has been giving a lot of young players game-time so that makes me think he'll do the same in the HAL - as he's also got a rep for giving youngsters a go (whether that's a good PR spin-job, I don't know as he may not have had a lot fo choice to do otherwise at CCM due to their finances) as Amini, Rogic, Ibini, Duke, Ryan, etc. are testament too...
Arto
Guest
@ nordster: Hahahaha!! I'ma bit of mixed-race myself with Finnish on the one side and Scottish on the other! As for my tastes in philosophers, well it's been a while since I studied that for my Bachelor degree, but I seem to remeber liking Locke a little bit although my dallainces with philosphy are probably very light-weight compared with you!! ;-) As for the planets aligning for SFC, well I hope so - funnily enough, I was never a big fan of Arnold prior to him becoming manager of SFC. that probably reflects worse on me than I should admit to, but if he doesn't deliver, then at least I can smile wryly and say "I told you so"!! However, I hope I'm wrong and that SFC do win the league this year and then maybe I can trick myself into believing that Arnold has developed and improved since his days as Socceroo coach!! ;-) I'm tempted to ask more about this "re-emerging philosophical liberalist revolution", but probably everyone else here would want to lynch me for going off footbal-topic!! :-D
Bondy
Guest
Fuss I'm glad you're tracking that deal with Ch 9 keep us posted of any new details please , cheers .
Arto
Guest
@ Rangaraider: If you think that Tim Cahill "pretty much only scores with his head”, then we probably need to end the discussion here as I don't believe you know much about Tim Cahill or have understood my point...
Midfielder
Guest
Real So am I ... and I am also looking forward to the match against the Wolves down in the gong .... they are arguably the most advanced of the old NSL sides in getting back in and they have a 20K stadium in WIN ...
adam
Roar Rookie
adam kwasnik
adam
Roar Rookie
Realfootball
Guest
Looking forward to seeing your boys take on Melb City at Lismore soon, Mid.
Realfootball
Guest
I agree. It was worth its weight in gold to have him here. But from a football perspective, I know who I would take if I was coach, looking at these two players.
Realfootball
Guest
Have to say that I love summer football. Turning up in a tee shirt on a warm night. Fantastic. I see those Euro games with everyone looking like Michelin Men in their 8 layers of super down and I always think, There but for the grace of the AFL go I. Summer football is, in fact, the only thing I like about AFL.