Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak has scotched transfer talk, saying he’s not moving from his English Premier League club Crystal Palace.
Jedinak says he’s bemused at reports Palace are willing to offload him.
“I don’t think I’m going anywhere,” Jedinak told AAP in Dubai, where he is in camp with the Socceroos ahead of next week’s World Cup qualification campaign opener in Kyrgyzstan.
“I’m very happy, where I’m at.
“Back end of last season I didn’t play in a few games for different reasons and people start to question.
“I have spoken to my management and my club and they’re very happy.”
Jedinak has been linked with West Bromwich Albion and their manager Tony Pulis, an unabashed fan of the Australian from their brief time together at Palace.
But the 30-year-old Palace skipper, arguably the club’s best performer since the club returned to the Premier League in 2013, said he had unfinished business at Selhurst Park.
“I have seen the club grow and I have been a part of that. And I only think it’s going to grow more,” he said.
“It’s got the feeling of a club that is going places, it has a huge potential.
“I remember not so long ago we were in the Championship struggling. And to see where it is now, it’s an amazing full circle.
“I feel pride every time I hear Crystal Palace get mentioned.”
The stoic midfielder said the speculation wasn’t distracting as he prepares to lead Australia’s qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The Socceroos depart for Kyrgyzstan on Sunday ahead of Tuesday’s battle in Bishkek with Jedinak buoyed by the spirit within the Socceroos camp.
“We’re talking already about the road to Russia, it’s exciting,” he said.
“We’re going against an opposition we have never faced, a place we have never been to. That comes with its own obstacles.”
Jedinak said confronting such difficulties could only help the Socceroos.
“If we’re going to be a team that progresses and develops and keeps getting better, that is what we need to do. You need to ask players to get out of their comfort zone,” he said.
“The challenge has been put.
“It comes with its own obstacles but we need to back ourselves, take the confidence we shown over the last 18 months and keep putting that into performances.
“But football is football, it’s unpredictable.”
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