With Bernie Ibini in Belgium conducting his ‘dream move’ to join fellow Australian Mat Ryan at Club Brugge and Marc Janko’s sticky contract situation over, it seems only a matter of time before other A-League clubs swoop on the remaining free agents coming from Sydney FC.
No doubt Corey Gameiro will be the next player to secure his future, unless A-League clubs have a short memory. His current injury may hold up proceedings, however, as he is still recovering from a knee ligament injury sustained during last season.
Gameiro almost won his first senior Australian cap with his scintillating early season form, however it was not to be for the young forward as he was chopped down by a cruel injury and has now found himself cut from his club.
He would make a handy addition to almost all of the other A-League teams bar Melbourne Victory, who have undoubtedly the best forward line in the competition.
Milos Dimitrijevic is the other headline act to be cut from Sydney FC’s squad for next season. Although the search party is still looking for him around the Melbourne area after going missing during the grand final, he was still a vital cog in steering Sydney FC to the grand final in the first place.
Dimitrijevic controlled the tempo of Sydney FC’s play throughout the season from his central midfield berth. He was also handy on the dead ball for Sydney FC and provided plenty of chances for his teammates.
It comes as no surprise that he cleaned up at the end of season awards for Sydney FC winning the club’s player of the year, player’s player of the year and member’s player of the year. The most surprising part is that he is being let go.
He will no doubt attract interest from both Australia and Europe, where he is currently visiting his family back in Serbia. Hopefully Dimitrijevic will be back on our shores for next season though.
Peter Triantis and Hagi Gligor are also being released by Sydney FC, which leaves their central midfield options very limited. Both are Sydney FC youth products, with Triantis being brought into the Sydney FC youth team after excelling with the APIA Leichhardt Tigers.
Both players have their best years ahead of them, with Triantis aged 23 and Gligor 19. It can be argued that both failed to take their chances with Sydney FC, but the chances they were both given were very limited.
Any A-League clubs that are looking for a talented young central midfield player to bolster their current squads should look no further than this pair, as they would be itching for some consistent first team action and looking to prove Sydney FC wrong for their decision to let them go.
So it seems Sydney FC will be looking to recruit central midfield players as a priority this transfer window. Will they splash for a marquee international player in this position? Or will Graham Arnold be able to convince Mustafa Amini to return from his European adventure with Borussia Dortmund?
Either way, it should be a very interesting off-season for Sydney FC.
Waz
Guest
You're right on the need for a striker but wouldn't Dimitrijevic make a great addition to our midfield :)
AZ_RBB
Guest
Really putting his neck on the line here. Massive pressure on recruitment for next season. Needs to make at least 7 or 8 strong buys now. That's not easy to do.
The artist formerly known as Punter
Guest
Amazing to let go, I thought they were WSW better players last year. How long can they still trust Popa. Hope he has some big plans.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
That sucks, they were good performers I'd take Takahagi any day.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
That's my pick, unless Arnold has another trick up his sleeve like a foreign coach networked from the recent friendlies or Han Berger.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Today we let go of Takahagi and Tanaka. That's now 14 players gone this off-season.
Lionheart
Guest
Roar already have an excess of young and talented midfielders, so doubt they were looking. Striker is their void.
Mato-Bateman
Guest
Hey Kane, any latest on Sydney FC goalkeeping coach situation? Think it will be Crawley from CCM? Wish Filan was available.
Mato-Bateman
Guest
Would WSW fans want Rado Vidosic as assistant coach? He's available now.
Cliffclavin
Guest
Big fan of Sotirio as well. Thought he stood out more than ikonomidis back in the young socceroos last year as well. Club football is different but I like Sotirio and he always shows commitment
fadida
Guest
Sortirio is better wide in a front 3. He has the potential to be an electrifying player, reminds me of Barbarousis
AZ_RBB
Guest
Yeah Kuzma-Ronaldo as I like to call him. Absolute joy to watch at times. Sotirio needs more support in midfield. Our former midfield seemed to think that hitting high long balls at a 5 foot nothing striker was a good idea.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
Believe me there's nothing more I'd love but I get the feeling the club are steering themselves out of trouble and finding their land legs so to speak, they've just signed Scott Jameson who is a very consistent performer, they have Takahagi and Castelen who have been standouts in a dim season and as AZ mentioned they've just retained some good youngsters. Unless they get the next few signings absolutely bang on they're not going to set the league on fire but I have a feeling they won't be as bad next season.
Kaks
Roar Guru
That seems like a great attack on paper, i must sadly admit. Really worried with the lack of rumours surrounding who the Wanderers are looking at. Hopefully it just means they are conducting their work privately.
Fadida
Guest
Is Kuzmanovski the step-over guy? He looks to have great technique and huge potential. I also rate Sortirio extremely highly. If he gets game time he'll have a breakout season.
Realfootball
Guest
Tyson was a fine keeper. Another player treated shabbily by Popovic. Personally, I'm very glad Popa isn't coaching the Roar. He reminds me of a great looking car that runs well for a couple of years then falls apart because the engineering is rubbish. I detest the way he treats players. He could get away with it if his recruitment worked, but its been by far the worst in the League. Wouldn't be surprised to see Wanderers and Perth fighting it out for the spoon next season.
Mato-Bateman
Guest
What keepers are available? You have Brad Jones, Nathan Coe (most likely heading to Turkey) and Mark Birighitti (been linked to Perth). Jones would probably want decent coin. Anyone else from overseas? Tyson was hard done by for sure.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Just some WSW player news. We've re-signed youth players Sotirio, Youlley and D'Cunha. This follow the re-signing of Aspro last week. All 4 are great young talents and I can see them becoming starting players in the near future. Unfortunately this means that we might need to let go of Kuzmanovski who has apparently had a good offer come his way from City. Aspro is arguably the most talented out of that group. Can't wait to see what sort of improvement he makes in the next 12 months. Looks like Bulut has had an offer from Perth. Also, it seems like much of the supporter base wants to see a new keeper come in rather than Bouzanis be No.1. I have a feeling that had Tyson been retained the fan base would be pushing for him to become No.1.
Mato-Bateman
Guest
He has to be very careful about his next move and makes sure he gets game time. I heard Nicky Carle is gaining interest from Jets and Mariners, he definitely wants to stay close to Sydney.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
Nah Amini wants to keep going in Europe and I agree he should keep at it there, a Dutch or Belgian club would work wonders for his playing style, going back to the A-League would be too much a step back, I would hate for Sydney to be the one to do that to him.